WA Gymnasts Miss #Rio2016 Selection

Published On: 9 June 2016

Western Australian Institute of Sport gymnasts Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little have missed selection for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with the single spot awarded to Victorian Larrissa Miller.

With Australia failing to qualify a team for August’s Olympic Games, selectors were faced with the task of choosing just one athlete to fill the women’s artistic quota in Rio.

Queensland born, Victorian based gymnast Larrissa Miller was announced on Wednesday by the AOC following nomination from Gymnastics Australia at the culmination of the 2016 Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne.

Miller claimed gold on the Floor apparatus in Melbourne after missing out in her favoured Bars routine to Queenslander Rianna Mizzen. Mitchell won a national title on Beam, after Little had earlier starred on Vault, but it wasn’t enough to sway selectors.

Both WA athletes have represented Australia at Olympic level previously, with Mitchell competing in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, whilst Little joined her training partner in action four years ago.

Despite the disappointment of missing selection, both athletes have shifted their attention to an up-coming World Cup meet in Portugal, with Mitchell set to compete internationally for the first time since recovering from a ruptured ACL, suffered in June 2015.

“I have worked extremely hard to get myself back to competitive fitness and this opportunity to test myself at international level again, is one that I am very much looking forward to,” Mitchell said of her World Cup plans.

The 2010 Floor World Champion said she was yet to determine whether she would continue in the sport beyond this meet.

“I feel very comfortable in not rushing a decision on my future, particularly as gymnastics has been such a significant part of my life. I intend to take the necessary time to make a decision that is right for me,” she said.

In other gymnastics news:

Western Australian trampoline athlete Evie Kierath won gold in the women’s senior tramp competition at the Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne.

Kierath won the national title with a score of 50.400 ahead of fellow West Australian Naomie Ding (47.015) after entering competition with the highest difficulty and attracting the second highest bonuses based on execution of her routine.