WAIS Gymnasts Eye Olympic Dream

Some people grow up dreaming about making it to the Olympic Games, while others spend every day working to make the dream a reality.

For friends Darcy Norman and Paige James, the Olympics are so close they can almost touch it.

The pair, aged just 15, are aiming to make their first Olympic gymnastics team at the Rio 2016 or Tokyo 2020 Games. The duo train together more than 30 hours a week in the West Australian Institute of Sport gym.

For Norman, the dream started when she was just five years old.

“We’ve been training here for 10 years, we’ve come here pretty much every day for 10 years for this one goal of the Olympics, so to get there would just be amazing,” she said.

James joined the WAIS program seven years ago.

“All this time we’ve been training and (Rio) is the main goal. If we make it, all that work will have paid off,” she said.

Norman was the 2013 and 2014 Australian Junior National Champion on uneven bars, while James has competed at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

The girls finish each other’s sentences and say they’re more like family than friends.

“Darcy’s like a sister to me, we see each other every day,” James said.

“We see each other more than our own families,” Norman said.

They juggle their elite aspirations with schoolwork, often arriving two hours late and leaving early.

“I found my school deals with it really well. I think when you find that balance between gym and school it really helps,” James said.

The duo both look to Australia’s best gymnast, Lauren Mitchell, for inspiration.

The 23-year-old made history in 2010 when she became Australia’s first female world gymnastics champion, winning the floor apparatus at the World Championships in Holland.

The dual Olympian has just returned to competition at the Australian Championships after injuring both her ankles.

“She’s a real inspiration. We see her every day, we see the hardships that she goes through and also the triumphs she has,” Norman said.

For James, Mitchell’s ability to overcome injury concerns has been inspiring.

“Just seeing her train is amazing. People see how she won the 2010 Worlds but we see everything before that, how hard she’s trained, how much she’s overcome.

To train in the gym 10 times a week requires dedication, but for James it’s also important to really love the sport.

“When I’m on the floor, the feeling when I do twisting, it just feels like I’m flying,” she said.

“I enjoy showing off my dance and my floor I love the crowd getting behind my routine.”

While Norman enjoys the perks of overseas travel.

“That’s my favourite bit, training for those big competitions – where we get to go travelling together.”

Norman competed against Mitchell at the National Championships last week, an opportunity for her to impress selectors with an eye to the crucial event of the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in October.

To send a full team to the Rio Olympic Games, Australia must finish in the top 8 at the World Championships in Glasgow in October.

Annie Kearney
olympics.com.au