Aussie Gymnastics Team Ready for Delhi
The Australian gymnastics team is Delhi bound and poised for a great competition when the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games kick off on October 3rd.
The women’s team will be chasing their fourth straight team gold medal when they take to the floor at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium next Tuesday (October 5).
Finalising their preparations in camp at the AIS in Canberra over the last fortnight, women’s head coach Peggy Liddick said that everything is on track for a successful Commonwealth Games campaign.
“We had a good final verification and the girls are ready to go to Delhi, they are really looking forward to it,” Liddick said.
“They have really gained confidence at the camp and I’ve been impressed by the stability of the girl’s programs.”
Although Australia will enter the Games as one of the favourites for gold, Liddick said the team isn’t getting ahead of themselves.
“I try to not emphasize the end result. We are just concentrating on the performance of one routine at a time. The girls know what our ranking is on paper and we will have a real battle on our hands, but the main focus is to have a good performance, stay healthy and go to Rotterdam after Delhi to qualify for the Olympics.”
One of the highlights of camp was the return to form of dual world championships medallist and Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder Lauren Mitchell. The 19-year-old has battled past a frustrating run of injuries including a broken hand, sprained ankle and an adductor strain over the last 12 months, but showed everyone she is back on top of her game in time for Delhi and the world championships in Rotterdam.
“Lauren is 100 percent fit,” continued Liddick. “The only thing she lacks is competition experience in 2010, but that was the plan, to have her healthy for this part of the year.”
Click here for detailed report from the women’s camp at the AIS in Canberra.
The Australian men will be chasing their first team gold medal in Delhi next Monday (October 4) but will need to break the stronghold of England and Canada.
Reigning national champion Sam Offord, who won silver in the team competition and bronze on vault at the Melbourne 2006 Games said that vibe amongst the boys over the last two weeks in Canberra has been very positive.
“The general vibe amongst the team is really good,” Offord said. “We have had two practise competitions in the last two weeks and we’re seeing an increase in quality across the board.
“We’re all feeling really good. The injuries are coming down and we’re feeling really good, really positive ahead of our departure for Delhi on Sunday.
“We all know what the job is that we have to do. We all know that we have to stay on the apparatus and be consistent, and that’s getting better as the camp has gone on.
“Personally, this week my preparations have seemed to have snapped together and I’m feeling really good. I had a really solid training session yesterday. I’m getting really eager and I’m just ready to go out there and do it now.”
The men’s team suffered a blow earlier this month with the withdrawal of former world high bar champion Phillippe Rizzo due to a shoulder injury, but Luke Wiwatowski has proved to be a credible replacement.
“It’s obviously disappointing that Phil hasn’t been able to fill his spot in the team, but apart from that everyone is doing quite well,” continued Offord.
“Luke’s shown over the last two weeks that he’s definitely ready and capable of filling Phil’s spot and that he’s a valuable member of the team.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s rhythmic team have been undertaking preparations of a different kind, as they compete alongside the best rhythmic gymnasts in the world at the 2010 world championships in Moscow (RUS). In what can only be described as the perfect lead-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the team were the highest placed Commonwealth nation finishing 19th in the team competition – Australia’s second best result in history.
It was a major confidence booster ahead of Delhi for the trio of Naazmi Johnston, Janine Murray and Danielle Prince, with Johnston also achieving a personal best over the four apparatus to narrowly miss a place in the all-around final. The Australian team has been buoyed by these great results and will certainly head to Delhi as medal contenders.
The three rhythmic gymnasts depart for Delhi on October 6.
– Gymnastics Australia