Paris Je T'aime

Results are in from the Combs La Ville international in Paris.

The organising committee and club are extremely friendly and happy to have the Australian Team taking part in their competition again. Holly Dykes [sic] name appears in the program from 2004, which was a great find by the girls when they were reading through it.

Team- 1st: Australia 2nd: Canada 3rd: Dijon




All-Around- 3rd: Britt 4th: Emily

Merci à Gymnet.org pour les photos et les résultats!

GA have a short report here.

We started competition on floor, Britt going up first - she did a great routine, which ranked her 3rd, Emma Collister was up next, however they played Emily's music by mistake.

Team Talk

First of all, VOTE FOR LAUREN! in the 2009 Sports Performer of the Year Awards. She has been nominated in the Young Performer of the Year category.

Secondly:



and...

Keep an eye out for the Age this Sunday. Greg Baum (who attended the launch of the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships) has written an article on Lauren. It is rumoured to be part of the Sunday magazine that accompanies the Sunday Age.

Thirdly, what are your thoughts on the team line-up prospects for 2010? Australia has a triple treat of big gymnastics events to take part in - Pacific Rim Championships, Commonwealth Games and Worlds - and a cluster of potential new stars to step into the spotlight.

Do you think Lauren Mitchell could/would/should make all three teams?
Who will make the best of a week between competitions, a mere week between plane trips from Delhi to Rotterdam?
What did Rushmoor reveal?
Whose skills could hold up against those of top-class international competitors?
Which juniors are looking good for big-time debuts and national TV exposure?
How will the seniors bounce back from injury woes?
Where does the line between "A-team" and "B-team" fall for you?

Predict your potential line-ups, show us some score breakdowns, let us know what you know!

But, as always, please be civil.

LozTV

More of lovely Lauren today!

I am surprised this was (or at least appears to be) the only network to show an interview with her at the event?






Scroll down on this page to hear an interview with Lauren on ABC Radio. Done over the phone on muck-up day, as you do!

Launch Time

In all the hoo-ha and shizzle-nizzle of meeting the marvellous Miss Mitchell, it's easy to forget the very reason she was in Melbourne in the first place!




The road to Pacific Rim 2010 starts here.

AGB Meets Lauren Mitchell

OH IIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S SUCH A PERFECT DAAAAAAAAAY

I'M GLAD I SPENT IT WITH YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU...

*ahem*

So I got there at 3:30 and was, for once in my life, the tallest person in the room! A queue of a dozen or so VIS gymnasts had already formed (Zoe Lorenzin dutifully taking photos for the HPC website in absence of her lovely mum) for autographs and photos. Lauren was seated at a card table and had a massive stack of glossy posters in front of her, ready for autographs.



Some girls brought their own printed-out photos and home-made posters featuring newspaper cutouts. They were soooooo excited, and I was only too happy to let them go ahead of me in the line. They had coaches waiting, anyway!

I spotted (what I was sure was) Fiona Coley training double pikes on the tumble track and one gymnast (couldn't tell from afar but was possibly a junior or level 10) was training beam with her arm in a sling!

Lauren was very patient with every autograph, asking for name spellings and personalising each one. I had to laugh when Tatiana Barabach leaned over and asked if Loz could sign one "for my office, okeh? One for my office!" Sharp as a tack, Lauren got ready to write on a poster and asked, "Would you like me to sign it, 'To Your Office'?"



The girl is clearly a COMEDIC GENIUS and should be given a nightly open mic slot in a Sydney bar post-haste.




It was finally my turn and I got my usual case of star-struck verbal diarrhoea. She hadn't heard of the blog or the Facebook fan page but was gracious all the same, and impressed to hear there were some 260 people registered as 'fans' of her at last count. She was touched to hear about all the people that followed Worlds live into the wee hours of the morning and did the adorable scrunched-up-nose laugh when I took a stab at humour and said that all the people celebrating her wins late in the night "nearly broke the internet". I thanked her for making the effort to come out to Melbourne, and remarked that with all her media stuff today she "must be exhausted!" but she laughed again and said no, it was all fine. The launch this morning "went really well" and she's having a good time down here. I got a photo and she very kindly signed my copy of The West Australian on whose front page she was featured. I then thanked her for coming to Melbourne (again!!!) and reminded her that there would always be legions of fans at home and around the world behind her. I also gave my best wishes to Dasha, Emily, and everyone at WAIS. I also nervously asked for a high-five, to which she obliged. I'm pretty sure I am now imbued with the power of flight and the ability to cure diseases.



My total lingering time was just under half an hour, I have no idea what that second half hour was like after all the littlies started training. I can only hope more people came along and got their little brush with fame.

Oh yeah, and this happened as well:



Make sure you catch ABC News tonight wherever you are, they mention the PacRim media launch. Just now, I caught the tail end of a clip featuring Prashanth doing pommel circles and Lauren doing a flip on floor in her EF leo, evidently in the VIS gym so it will have been from the launch earlier today.

What a day!

It's 4pm. Do You Know Where Your Gymnasts Are?

They're ON FOX SPORTS 2 RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND IN THE 2-HOUR BROADCAST OF THE 2009 WORLDS WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL!

And yours truly will indeed be lining up for Lauren's autograph tomorrow.
(Just to clarify, for anyone wondering, the GA website lists the location as the "VIS Women's Gymnasium in Green St, Windsor". This means the High Performance Centre at the corner of Green and Thomas Streets in Prahran that we know and love. I am told there will be signage).

Videos may well appear here.


GA tells us to keep an eye on Sky News for an interview with Lauren. Apparently she is filming it before her media launch and signing tomorrow. My guess is that she'll appear at some point on Sky's sport program Sportsline; it may well be a live appearance tomorrow morning, it might just be taped and appear later in the week instead. We'll have to stay tuned!


I have several reasons to smile today, not least of all because it's my Mum's birthday.


:)

ETA: Wednesday 28/10 Lauren appeared on Sky News Sportsline this morning, live via satellite from Melbourne. She was in a blue GA polo shirt. They showed images of her homecoming (*sniffle*) and a brief clip of her on beam. She said the two medals were quite "unexpected". They talked about her training hours and how she balances school with gym, then she plugged PacRim2010 and said she wouldn't mind having a crack at London 2012 but there are a few stepping stones before she gets there. She even gave a shout-out to Oksana Chusovitina. The interview was about 5 or 6 minutes long but interestingly enough was incorporated as part of the discussion of John Coates' revelations about sports funding cuts.

Mitchell Meets the Press

Ya can't move in WA without seeing Lauren in a paper and I mean that in a good way!

Thanks to Brindabella for the smashing following scans from Perth papers. Click for a larger image and/or better view of the text.

Feelin' the Gym Love

Lauren and Prashanth are hitting Melbourne!

World championships medallists Lauren Mitchell and Prashanth Sellathurai will be in Melbourne this Wednesday for the official launch of the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships.

Fresh from their participation in the 2009 World Championships, Mitchell and Sellathurai will be joined by Georgia Bonora and 2009 national rhythmic champion Naazmi Johnston at the VIS Men's Gymnasium from 11am this Wednesday. The launch is an invite only event, with Lauren fulfilling a range of media commitments whilst in Melbourne and then jetting back home to Perth in order to take her final exams.


Lauren will be in attendance at the VIS Women's gymnasium on this Wednesday to sign autographs. Members of the gymnastics community and fans in general can pass on their words of congratulations to Lauren and even get a signed autograph. Mitchell will be at the VIS Women's Gym from 3.30pm - 4.30pm this Wednesday the 28th October. The autograph signing is open to the public but limited to one hour, so get in quick.

The VIS Women's Gymnasium is located in Green St, Windsor.

Wheeeeeeeeee!


Mind you, my body must KNOW when there's exciting gymnastics things on and chances for meet-and-greets. I always catch a cold!

2005 AUS v CHN, and the Aussie team did a signing after the competition: sick.

2006 Commonwealth Games TF: sick.

2007 Nationals AA: sick.

2008 Olympic Welcome Home Parade: extremely sick.

2009, where I discover there is to be a post-Worlds autograph session, and it's the day before my job interview: sick!

Rushmoor Rose Bowl Event Finals LIVE!!!

8:30pm Melbourne Time - MEZ GOES LIVE!


If you've got access to the stream, team warm-ups have begun!

Please excuse what will inevitably become a cascading waterfall of random observations, score updates and general gymfaffery. I'm be flicking between here and the feed, updating as fast as my fingers will allow me! I probably won't be able to read any posted comments at the same time but will certainly try!


I can see some WA girls in black with the silver/white mesh over the chest, and maybe two in the leo Lauren wore at Nationals AA this year? Dark green with the green-and-yellow flourish at the shoulder.

Must be the juniors in their leos already and doing what look like Vault warm-ups, because two girls in an Aus trackie (clearly Britt and... possibly Fiona? They're in synch) are taking it a bit slower on the floor.


Nat Joura definitely in black with mesh. Nikki Chung too?

Commentator remarks that Emma Collister and one Canadian girl are the only two girls in the whole competition to qualify for all four apparatus finals.

Britt and Emma C went 1-2 in the all-around final yesterday, he says.

Emily Little in the Lauren-Nationals-AA-leo.

Oh, hey Peggy. I didn't think you were there. Hiya.

WOAH WOAH WOAH COMMENTATOR/FLOOR MANAGER MAN, TAKE TWO STEPS BACK FROM THE MICROPHONE! YEEEEESH!

They've been liberal with the apparatus final slots; there will not just be 10 finallists on each event. Three event finals will have 11 girls perform and one (not ndicated which) will have 12 girls perform.

This is gonna be a looooooong night!

Turns out it's not just gymnastics commentary hour but Vaudeville Banter Hour as well. Oh joy.

Aaawww, he gave a plug to Lauren and WAIS. I'll forgive him for the 'Dad jokes' then. Heck, I think I'll BE him in twenty years' time...

The camera angle changes! Away from floor we see the beam angle then the bars angle. Noice! Britt in pink and black leo.

Peggy chatting to a beam judge.

"Over 50 people" watched from around the world last night. Let's see what the view count is tonight, hey!

Fiona (I think) also in pink and black leo, sitting down, fixing strapping.

I spotted - not in the gymnastics sense!- Emma D on bars. Ankle weights on.

The competition area is cleared for march-in...

Weirdest, I-Think-I-Need-Context-For-That-One Remark of the Night: "I hope that's ice on your head, Vladimir!" (Floor manager man to DaddyJoura)

Awww yeah, the lights are dimming and we're getting pre-comp safety announcements.

*Have you familiarised yourself with the exits, muffins? It's ONNNNNN!!!*

Flags process out, lead by the Rushmoor flag.

Teams march out - WA in black, Australia in pink and black.

PUMPKIN CARVING COMPETITION RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS DAY: AUSTRALIA WON!

Introductions...
VT- Georgia Simpson
VT, BB- Nat Joura
VT - Ashley Cooney
VT - Nikki Chung

My feed keeps cutting out and jumping, hope I am hearing these right...

UB- Fiona
VT, UB, Reserve BB, FX - Emma Collister
Emma Dennis (my feed skipped, didn't hear her event)
VT, UB, BB, FX - Britt
UB - Feed skipped and I didn't hear. I assume Emily.

*********************************************
Vault: Ash Cooney

Yurchenko layout, one step back.

Beam: Britt.
Single Humphrey turn. I missed the skill she does into change leg split leap, I assume a front aerial.. BHS LOSO. Big chunk missed due to feed skipping. Wobbled on full pirouette. Roundoff, Double twist dismount, small shuffle. Nice otherwise.

AshVT 2: Piked Tsuk, one step back? Camera too far away (on the 'beam side' of the venue)

Nat Joura VT1: Yurch layout, a little flingy. Low chest on landing.

Nat Joura VT2: "Nice and safe" Straight front handspring

Georgia Simpson VT1: Yurch layout, near-stick!

SCORES THUS FAR FROM GYMDATA:

Natalia Joura - Vault 2 - 11.200

Natalia Joura - Vault 1 - 12.400

Ashley Cooney - Vault 2 - 12.400

Britt Greeley - Beam - 13.000

Ashley Cooney - Vault 1 - 12.800

Georgia Simpson VT2: Ugh, this damn feed skipping. I missed it (this is going to be a recurring theme tonight)!

Nikki Chung VT1: Yurch layout, one step back. Nice height.

Nikki Chung VT2: (Edit) Straight front handspring, one small hop.


Britt VT1: Missed the whole thing save for the salute at the end, thanks to a jumpy feed. We're only two apparatus in and already I want to throw my laptop out the window.

Britt VT2: (Edit) Straight front handspring, one sizeable step forward.

Nat BB: Wobble on side aerial. BHS LOSO. Front aerial side somi (fall). Sheep jump. Something to back tuck, big wobble. Full pirouette. Split jump, wolf jump. Roundoff to single back tuck dismount. I may have missed some elements!

Emma C. VT1: I missed it except for the landing, one step back.

Emma C VT2: GREAT Front tuck handspring, slight hop forward

It's really frustrating when your feed skips while watching floor, you see the start of a run-up then a post-landing salute, so you've no idea how it went...

The coaches from the the different teams helps eachother out in adjusting the bars for the next girl. Ya gotta love solidarity through sport.

Emma C UB: Thought it was Emma Dennis for a sec! Lovely lines, nice straddled tkatchev. Good handstand work, quite a bit of distance on dismount, shuffle.

Britt FX: Maybe went OOB on first tumble? I only saw where she started her line of choreo after it and it seemed waaaaay back in the corner. Double tuck as second tumble, nice.

Commentator remarks that Britt barely had a breather between competing floor and marching to bars. Peggy says something jokingly like "Don't pity her! It's good for the fitness!"
The breaks in my feed are starting to really frustrate me, I may not last until the very end of the competition!

Emma Dennis UB - I missed if she put in the comaneci or not! Bit loosey-goosey on straddle jaeger but caught, giant full turn, giant, double front dismount (deep knee bend).

Rachel Collister UB: Jump from springboard to high bar. My feed missed both her first release (jaeger of some sort) AND her dismount! Overshoot to handstand, toe on giant on low bar, up to high bar (bit short, a near dead-hang), giant full... something skipped.

Fiona Coley UB: Jump over low to high bar. Straddle jaeger. A little loose in handstands but good work considering she was retired not so long ago! Reverse giant, double front dismount with one step forward.


Britt UB: Overcooks giant full, big arch, comes off. Gets back up, same problem, comes off. Slight leg separation on gienger. Comes off again over-arching a handstand! I missed the dismount.

Emma C FX: GREAT double arabian to open. Nice double pirouette. Stood up double pike to close. Really engaging music, something different to the old tango/jazz dross.

Aaaaaand the competition ends? That was quicker than I thought.

Nice coin-rolling game being played to amuse the audience, pass the time and raise money for charity while final scores get tabulated. Tracey P loses her coin!?

Dark blue medal podium, very nice, aaand the girls are asked to sit on the floor.

***2009 ROSE BOWL EVENT FINALS RESULTS***

Scores at www.gymdata.co.uk/

VAULT: 6th Britt. 1st EMMA COLLISTER! Wins "a rose bowl, flowers, [medal], the full monty!"

BARS: 3rd Emma C. 2nd. Fiona 1ST EMMA DENNIS! An all pink-and-black podium!

BEAM: 2nd Britt!

FLOOR: 2nd Britt! 1st (by one tenth) EMMA COLLISTER!

It was a near Emma-quadrella (quadfecta?)

Congrats to all our medallists! Great job, and good luck in France!

La Vie en Rose Bowl

Hi all.

Apologies for not having covered this meet as fully as I could have.

I do have some updates for you all from Camp 'Straya and some info regarding access to the live video.

Many thanks to the Aussie team parent who kindly asked the technician at Rushmoor about it.

There were initial security concerns about making the stream location known to those outside of participating families and friends, but they're basically ok now with people registering, and would like to make it known that it was NOT their intention to entirely exclude the general public from viewing the feed.

So...

Go bananas!

Head to gymdata.co.uk/ and register to view the Rushmoor stream. You WILL need to list the name of a participating athlete or club ("Western Australia" or "Waverley, Australia" or just "Australia" would be best I guess?) as part of registration though there are no further checks beyond this. Do so as soon as possible because the stream for today's competition starts at 6pm our time!

Now, to last night's competition proper.

Team Aus proved to be the most experienced (competiton and travel-wise) team in there, despite appearances.

That said, the Western Australia team (WAIS girls + Rachel Collister) did not have the best competition with falls on bars and some on beam, yet they did win their session. Rachel was 'promoted' to the Senior team because Emily L had a bad fall on bars (slipped off a reverse giant and landed on her head, eeek!) which must have been scary for all to see! Fortunately she was not as bad as feared and was seen walking around with the team later. Rachel's answer to the call of duty was commended by all.

Team BEERF brings home the goods

Emma D is through to bars and beam finals but for personal reasons may only compete one of the two. This remains to be decided.


Big love to all our girlies and we wish them a happy and healthy second day of competition.

Thanks to those who covered the stream in the wee small hours (Nade and an Anon?), again I am sorry not to have been there watching along with you.

Tonight will be a different story!

Rushmoor Rose Bowl

Air hare-LAIR, my antipodean friends.

*does a little Queen wave*

Worlds are over, but gym action in the UK won't be taking a Bank Holiday (nyuk nyuk nyuk)!

Keep yourself updated on the Rose Bowl competition comings-and-goings here. Good luck to all the competitors.

***EDITOR'S EDIT AND NOTE***

As far as I understand, live video streaming for Rushmoor is being done, but in conjunction with participating clubs. That is, when you go to register at the website I had previously listed in this entry, you have to list a club you are watching on behalf of, and as far as I can tell this involves clubs actually taking part in the competition (cf. WAIS/Waverley/Victorian High Performance Centre). I have reason to believe they're checking names with participating clubs for safety reasons but mind you, nothing of the kind was indicated in the original information I received about the feed. So I apologise for getting anyone's hopes up with a "ZOMGZ FREE LIVE FEED FREE-FOR-ALL" invitation. You may not get through registration after all. I don't know what's happening "at the other end". I hope to soon.

I was pointed to the site on behalf of Waverley and assumed that my approval came thanks in part to their good word.

My other concern about the address being made public, outside of the 'safety reasons' thing, was that according to the original email I was sent about the competition, this is the first time ever Rushmoor has done live video streaming. I realised after I posted the URL that I'd probably be leaving it open to hundreds of people hitting the site and I've got a feeling a British gymnastics club doesn't have quite the web traffic capacity of something like Universal Sports!

Anyway. That was my initial hesitation, a Waverley parent has said they will very kindly sort it out for us with the necessary Rushmoor reps. I could be COMPLETELY wrong (as I have been, on numerous occasions, except for 11:23am on June 18th, 2002) about it all and it's completely fine and as many people as possible from as many places across the world can register and watch and it's all fine and dandy.

If you get through the registration phase within the next 24 hours, that's great. If not, I'm very very sorry.

If any further information about accessing the feed heads my way, I will concretely clarify all this as soon as possible.

Front Page News!

She touched down today and I''m told she got a rousing reception. Apparently there was much more media present than expected!

Mitchell returned home to Perth today and says she's determined to win gold in 2012.

"I was 0.1 [points] away from getting gold on floor, and I was 0.2 away from getting gold on beam, so really it's nothing," she said.

"I'm ready for the gold."

The coverage continues with this pic of her at the airport. I like to caption it, "Muuu-uuum!"


You can also see video of her hero's welcome here. Liz C looks as chuffed as Lauren's parents. Many thanks to The West newspaper for the coverage and WA native Brindabella for pointing it all out. I'd kill to be a Perth-ian right now!

She also featured in today's Sunrise sport report here.



Anyone watching tonight's gym broadcast (MAG AA, EF Day 1 on Foxtel) might be interested to know that it is shown with the BBC commentary team (or, at least, the throaty-sounding older guy from the BBC team) but this morning when it was shown, we had the Universal team!

**************************************************

GA have put even MORE coverage of Lauren's home-coming!




They have plenty of photos up and even reveal:

World championships silver medallist Lauren Mitchell, returned home yesterday to the cheers of her WAIS training partners and the Australian gymnastic community.

In a moment of weakness, Liz Chetkovich (WAIS Gymnastics Program Director), allowed members of the WAIS gymnastics program to miss their scheduled afternoon training and head to Perth airport to welcome home their very own world silver medallist - Lauren Mitchell.

Awwwww.

I have a feeling Lauren's medal wins are the start of something big!

********************************************

Speaking of big things to come, the VWHPC website has a photo up of the European Tour team.

Back row L-R: Natalia Joura, Nikki Chung, Fiona Coley, Emma Dennis, Ashley Cooney, Jamison Ruscoe
Front Row L-R Emily Little, Britt Greeley, Rachel Collister, Georgia Simpson, Emma Collister

2009 Shadow Squad European Tour

Sounds like a team of vigilante superheroes, dunnit?


SHADOW SQUAD!
Able to leap whole results tables in a single bound...
SHADOW SQUAD!
Roundhouse-kicking you with a good dose of artistry...
SHADOW SQUAD!
Defeating those villains seeking to de-value their difficulty scores!

I'm envisioning a 20-episode animated series already...

First up is the Rushmoor Rose Bowl International. October 24-25, the girls have been training at the Rushmoor gym during the men's events that took place at Worlds.

This event will also feature the WA juniors and Rachel Collister.


They will then be competing in the Combs-la-Ville International in Paris, October 30-31.


G'LUCK, GIRLIES!

Worlds Wrap-Up

What more can I say? What more can anyone really say now that the (chalk) dust has settled!?

Such an incredible and unforgettable experience for all involved. All gymnasts, coaches and officials attending the event are to be praised for such an amazing show.

Lauren gives a little more detail about her performances here.

Liz Chetkovich gives some insight here.

I think we'll be riding this happiness wave for a while!

The Couch Gymnast has one interesting observation from inside the arena (well, she has many, actually. This one's Aussie-centric). She found herself sitting next to Marta Karolyi of Team USA in the stands during the all-around. When Lauren's beam difficulty was flashed: "She kind of scoffed at the 6.5 difficulty, and then said " 6.5? I vould not expect a 6.5 from Peggy!"" Well, you can't deny Lauren went on to exceed all EXPECTATIONS you miserable old prune! Hahahahaha! *finger guns in the air* pyew pyew pyew pyew!

Ahem.

Sorry. Completely forgot where I was for a moment.


Check YouTube for videos of routines, a few are already up. Smashing stuff.


Gymnastics WA says...

Monday, 19 October 2009

The Western Australian Institute of Sport will provide a fitting return for their star scholarship holder tomorrow afternoon.

If you live in Perth and would like to congratulate Lauren on her fantastic performances at the 2009 world championships then head to Perth airport tomorrow around 3.30pm, where Lauren will arrive home and be greeted by local media.

I really don't know how to wrap this thing up!

Except to say, THANK YOU London for an exciting and engaging week of gymnastics competition! It has been such fun taking part halfway across the world. Many thanks to everyone who provided photos, updates, gossip, links, articles and general observations. It was nice to have fellow night owls tolerating my mad, sleepless babblings.

Team Australia did a marvellous job at the championships and can come home safe in the knowledge they represented us very well, and that we wish them luck for their new phase of competitions. Tally ho, pip-pip, onward and upward from here!

Just a reminder that you can still send get well messages to Shona Morgan via ozgymblog@gmail.com


Don't forget to check back in the coming week for news from the shadow squad's European tour!

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 2 Round-Up

Well, it's the morning after the night before and wow, did our big red fire engine go!!!



Woke up with a smile on my face, I'm so pleased for Lauren.

She has featured on one radio station's news very very briefly this morning, and evidently nowhere else.

That said, she DID get a look-in on Fox Sports News' hourly coverage, about half an hour in (after the motorcyclists and the race car driver and the ENGLISH SOCCER). Footage of both routines is shown, and you hear a bit ofTracey's commentary so perhaps the feed is also what we'll get in the broadcast next week!



She's not on BGtv (yet!)

Here's something here as well

And here.

"My routines were performed like I train so I was really happy with that and I know that there is still room for improvement and this has made me more determined. Now I have a feel for it I want more. I'm am really looking forward to my next competition!"

Just on a personal note, thanks for everyone who followed along with me and enjoyed the late-night liveblog shennanigans. It's been lots of fun sharing this exciting event with like-minded fans. I've had an absolute ball, with or without adequate sleep, and it meant a lot when people thanked me for updates. I wasn't expecting that, I only do this because I love it and because it's fun!

I won't be here for the rest of the day to see if more coverage filters in but I should be home in time to catch the 7:00pm Melbourne news who I know covered Phil in 2006 so fingers crossed for some Lauren love.

Hope you've enjoyed the show.

(I'll bet she snorts when she laughs really hard. In an adorable way.)

YOU LEGEND!!!

Women's Balance Beam:
1. DENG Linlin CHN 15.000
2. LAUREN Mitchell AUS 14.875
3. IVANA Hong USA 14.500

Women's Floor Exercise
1. BETH Tweddle GBR 14.65
2. LAUREN Mitchell AUS 14.55
3. SUI Lu CHN 14.300

Today we declare our LAUREN MITCHELL DAY!!!

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 2 LIVE!

There's still about half an hour to go before competition begins and I'm already getting nervous!

The competitors are in the arena warming up as we speak.

**************************

Here goes the feed!

MAG vault is first, so we've got a wait before Lauren is on.

**************************

Here we go!!!

Argh I need a change of pants!

WAG BB march-in: Lauren in Beijing prelim leo (green and gold yay). My feed skipped ahead and missed her salute!

Tracey talks about Lauren's World Cup Final win.

Going mad at Twitter: #LaurenMitchell


Gyaaah my feed is skipping in MASSIVE chunks, I missed half of YYL's routine!

YYL AND PORGRAS FALL! Wow, this is one tense final.

You might be able to spot a green and gold 'Good Luck Lauren' sign in the background in the replays. That, my friends, is the work of photography goddess Sarah Kirby. Very kind of her to do.



Here she goes, argh I'm shaking!

Big step on dismount otherwise AWESOME JOB! Hit the layout sequence like crazy, hit most of the acro very well.

And...

and...


LAUREN GETS SILVER!!!

BEST EVER RESULT FOR AN AUSSIE WOMAN!!!!!


My computer froze completely JUST as her score came up so I heard it before we started.

Lauren Mitchell – Mitchell mount, flic – flic – layout 2 feet, switch leap – back pike, ½ split leap, 1 ½ Cossack spin, free aerial – front tuck, switch ring leap (not good), ff – ff – double pike off (big step back). D: 6.3 E: 8.575 (14.875)

Congratulations Lauren, this was AMAZING performance! Wear that medal with pride! I just... I can't get over it! This was so deserved!

Medal ceremony already! Yay Loz! Big squeezy hug for Ivana. Dyaaaw, she's chuffed at being congratulated by FIG officials. I was doing fine emotion-wise until they cut to the flags raising and...aww... I got all sniffly...


Little Loz makes history (by my calculations):

a) First ever individual apparatus medal by an Aussie woman
b) Highest ever podium finish by an Aussie woman
c) Only Aussie WAG (thus far!) to medal at the same championships as an Aussie MAG
d) Highest apparatus final finish for an Aussie who also competed in the all-around at the same championships


BRING ON FLOOR, BOOYAH!


****************************************

Grrr this feed is freezing up my computer something shocking. I don't wanna miss Beth!

Ok, back on.

Ohhhh a horrible horrible fall for the (Columbian) gymnast Ortiz, landed on her head. Medical staff called over, everyone stunned and waiting. Bross is visibly upset, she is slated to go next.

Dead silence in the arena. Cameras on Beth and Becca.

The argument for one-touch warmups seems ever stronger.

****************************************

The final continues, rather solemnly I must admit, with Beth still on top after 4 competitors.

Here goes our girl! Woohoo!

Killer first two tumbles! My computer fronze AGAIN but I caught the replays! Great tumbles all over, smashing stuff.

She is guaranteed a medal, going into 2nd!


She stays there!

LOZ PUTS IN BEST EVER PERFORMANCE BY AN AUSSIE...

TWO SILVERS!!!

Massive hugs from Beth and the Chinese girls, Lauren is soooo happy and justifiably so. Beth gets a giant cheer as she is declared the winner. Hugs all around.

CONGRATS, LAUREN! YOU WENT, YOU BIG RED FIRE ENGINE!

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 2 Preamble

Lauren will be up last on beam and second-last on floor. The gymnasts do not have a one-touch warm up on the apparatus once they are presented to the judges.


Universal Sports live feed starts just before 11:00pm AEDST. Mine managed to work last night, for the most part.

Two little words:

BRING.

IT.

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 1 Round-Up

Woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop!

Prashanth Sellathurai joins an exclusive club of Aussie gymnasts that have medalled twice at World Championships - Monette Russo (2003, 2005) and Philippe Rizzo (2001, 2006).

Read about his reaction here.

And see a video interview with him here! Thanks, GBtv!



Larrissa Miller is to be commended for her inspiring and exciting bars performance. I nearly up-ended my laptop from my knees in joy when she stuck her dismount. It was worth the late night sitting-up-in-bed vigil! To do it once is great but to do it twice, and when the pressure's on, is phenomenal. Quick hits have repeatedly referred to her as "crisp", "neat" and having "nice lines". Many other bars workers could sit up and take notes from Larrissa. She and her coaches should be very proud of what she achieved.

Two r's. Two s's. Two l's. ONE classy young lady.

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 1 LIVE!

11:00pm AEDST at Universal Sports.

Follow live quick hits and results on Twitter: www.twitter.com/intlgymnast is your best bet.

Also, The-All-Around.com and the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships group at Facebook.

****************************

10:50pm

The feed begins! Tracey and (Adam?) discuss Larrissa's prospects for uneven bars silverware. Tracey is positive.
In comes an Australian male commentator. Didn't catch his name though. Start list for MAG floor is flashed. Hope my feed works better than it did last night! *cross fingers*

It is working well so far, just the odd bit of buffering, Huwway!

Still haven't got the name of the guest Aussie male commentator but thus far have deduced he was a competitor in the 70's. Aha! John something (surely not John Hart!)

It's just frustrating? The way he keeps upwardly inflecting? When he's not actually asking a question?

Aaaanyway, catch you back when the Aussie-centric events are on.

********************************

Prashanth on pommel, let's see if her can master those nerves!

Away we go...

He's so teeny he was dwarfed by other competitors at march-in. I thought he wasn't there!

The announcer mangled his name :( Big cheer for Louis Smith who is up first.

Oh no, Smitty! He succumbs to pressure and falls after a form break, crowd is gutted but spurs him on to finish it. Sits on floor a la Beth 2006 Worlds. Nice pat on back from Slovenian coach.

Later...

It's Prash Time!


Ok, my heart was racing. Couple of little form breaks might cost him!

Shakes hands with fellow finallists, commentators say it could be good for bronze with one competitor left.

And...?

Prashanth Sellathurai – scissors, Russians on the centre of the pommel, work on one pmmel, slight form break after stoclki, Wu Guonian, Russians on one side, Magyar, Sivado, 1/1 pirouette. Good routine.

THE FRENCHMAN FALLS SHORT,

PRASH GETS BRONZE!

YAAAHOOO!!!

Go you teeny weeny good thing! We are so proud!

**********************

Now, WAG bars final! No time to waste!

Larrissa in black AA leo, hair in bun. Tallest girl there?

Revels in her salute to crowd, so chuffed! Such a big moment for her.

A couple of girls before her have had bobbles but Tsurumi and He show, as expected, pretty flawless efforts.

Time to get swinging...

Dammit, screen froze halfway through. No major dramas, nice handstands, STUCK DISMOUNT a la Dasha in bars final at Bejing test event. Great stuff! Big smile.

Larrissa Miller – inside stalder 1/1 – Gienger, undershoot. Overshoot, inside stalder ½ - Jaeger,inside stalder, full in.

14.575, into 4th so far.

Bloody well done, Rissa!!! Way to hit it! The dismount was amazing!


ETA: She ended up 7th. Apparently an enquiry is being lodged into her score.

Stay tuned for Prash's medal presentation after MAG rings!

MAG/WAG Event Final Day 1 Preamble

Good luck to Larrissa and Prashanth who compete tonight! We're cheering you all the way!

Once again, you can watch via Universal Sports (once you've registered, click on Watch Now near the top right corner of the home page and it should start up for you... once the event has actually started, of course!). Estimated start time is 11:00pm AEDST.


Speaking of event finals, Lauren and Peggy have talked about the AA near-miss and their expectiations for tomorrow night here.

"To come so close to medalling, it will make her get back in there," Liddick said.

"In fact, the first thing she said when she walked off was: `I'm going to show them in the (apparatus) finals.'

Three little words: ALL. GUNS. BLAZING!

(Edit: Ok, one very last word on Lauren before her compatriots take to the podium tonight: Her prelims floor is up at YouTube! Lookit!)

WAG All-Around Final Round-Up

In the end, someone has to get 4th and if it wasn't Lauren it would've been someone else, and fans in some other corner of the globe would be comiserating-celebrating like we have been.

Lauren, you just made the SECOND-BEST EVER FINISH AT A WORLDS BY AN AUSTRALIAN, THE BEST EVER FINISH BY A WEST AUSTRALIAN. And to do it all after a prolonged injury period and Bejing disappointments and a teammate getting injured, we're so very proud with what you achieved. FOURTH IN THE WORLD.

IN

THE.

WORLD.

Hopefully getting pipped at the post fires her up for beam and floor finals, she had a great showing on beam today. And heck, maybe Dasha will be inspired to keep working when she's recovered and go on to better that result...

Chin up, Lauren, you made a great effort in front of crowds and cameras and a bucketload of pressure! Good luck for your remaining finals!

ETA: Thanks to one speedy YouTube user, you can now watch the all-around back in quite good quality! Courtesy of Chinese tv, the first video (Lauren appears straight away) is here.



Photos courtesy Gymnstands and Reuters.

WAG All-Around Final LIVE!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH I slept through my alarm! So sorry, everyone! Funnily enough I'd had a dream ABOUT LIVE-BLOGGING LAUREN WINNING AA IN LONDON.

Oy vey.

I'll be on the feed in a few seconds.

Lauren Vault 14.4

Got the feed working as rotation 2 starts yaaaaay!

Lauren sits in 6th and already I am hating the male commentator.

Just saw Loz sitting, waiting for bars. Is that the black/pink leo or something new? Can't tell.

Aaaaand my feed dropped out :(

I'll re-start my computer after Lauren's bars. Aaaargh (again).

Lauren UB:

Mitchell UB toe on overshoot, Jaeger, toe ono 1/1 – undershoot, double front off (big jump fwd).

Feed not back on in time for Lauren's beam *sigh*

Mitchell BB Mitchell mount, flic – flic – whip (step back), switch leap – back pike, ½ split leap, wolf jump – split jump, 2/1 spin in cossak, free aerial – front tuck, switch ring leap – back tuck, ff – ff – double pike (a bit low and hop fwd).

"15.1 GOES INTO SECOND PLACE! SHAKING AND CRYING!"

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

NOW, MORE THAN EVER, DO I WANT HER TO HIT FLOOR

(Correction: into 4th place)

C'mon, Loz! Keep those tumbles in bounds! You can do it! GOOOOOOO LOZ!

Problems with stream? Try http://tvonline.link-tv.ro/index.php/home/36-tvonline/178-Digi%20Sport

(Thanks, Kellie)

Opened with the arabian-stag, a little short. I mised the 2nd tumble, stoodup the double pike.

Pleeeeease.....

pleeeeeease....

Ok 14.025 please be enough!


Aaaaaaaaaaaaand..... 4th!?


Ok she went OOB but Tsurumi's Yurchenko full and Bross' fall(s?) still nipped her medal chances in the bud.

LAUREN, WE'RE EXTREMELY PROUD OF HOW YOU REPRESENTED YOUR STATE AND COUNTRY. WELL DONE ON AN EXCEPTIONAL 4th PLACE FINISH.

Just saw her on the stream getting a certificate with the other top-8 placegetters. Nice leo, by the way!


Big love to Loz! Hope she can finally get some silverware in EFs.

WAG All-Around Final Preamble 2

Multitudes of thanks to Sarah Kirby, goddess of all that is worldly and good in the world of gymnastics photography, for these photos from WAG qualifications. The leotards don't look so blindingly pink in these shots, I must say...

Go...um... Team Beetroot Liqueur?

Also, EPIC thanks to YouTube's Billden06 for the VIDEOS of Team Australia! Wooohooo!

WAG All-Around Final Preamble

Set your world clocks to 4:30am Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time and keep one eye on this little corner of the web world. Universal Sports will be streaming the event online a) live and b) free!

I will do my best to stir from a slumber and cover as much of the event as possible. I must confess I've never really utilised live web streaming of gymnastics before; it didn't quite work for me for Beijing last year but I will definitely try this time around!

I will put results and quick hits here when possible as well.

See the all-around draw here.

Don't forget the smashing quickhits at The All Around and Twitter (Ollie Williams, GymnasticKT and International Gymnast).


Lauren's first event will be vault and she will be the very first gymnast up, just like (and I think we'll be hearing this comparison a lot tonight) Monette Russo in 2005.

BEST OF LUCK, LAUREN! PINK POWER!

Two interesting observations about Miss Mitchell courtesy of The Couch Gymnast who was in the arena:

* Lauren Mitchell. Good girl! While so many big guns (including Bross) were really unsteady all day Mitchell was solid. She came out so late in the day, held that beam routine together and was generally great all around.
(I think she had a bleeding rip that she took to beam though, because they rushed around to clean up the beam after she performed!!)
And two event finals?! I am buzzing with proud right now.


* Can I just say how hilarious it was to hear Martha Karolyi saying to her companion behind me as she watched Lauren Mitchell's floor ex "I don't know vot eet eez. She eez not fantastics, but zer is somezing about her zo good" !!!!!!

Just as a sidenote, big thanks to the people in the US who sent me 'get well' messages for Shona. Please keep them coming, they're lovely, and I am sure she will appreciate them a great deal.

Shout-Outs + Vid

Dominique Moceanu and her husband are having some of their observations and belated quick-hits posted on International Gymnast. Here are some of their thoughts on the Aussies...

Georgia Bonora (AUS): Comaneci on UB with ease

"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!" resonates through the O2 from the Australian fans.

Oh no! Likely ACL injury to Shona Morgan (AUS) on VT. Left on a stretcher. We'll never get used to this part of our sport.

Noteworthy UB routine from Larrissa Miller (AUS) with beautiful feet and giant taps like Khorkina. Drilled a tucked 1/2 in 1/2 out.

Lauren Mitchell (AUS): Arabian double front into immediate stag jump - exceptional!

Keep those cheers going from the stands, Aussie fans!

Now, at last, some videos are surfacing. Many giant thanks to the GGMB users and other dedicated fans who risked being chucked out of the arena in order to get us footage.

Georgia appears on bars in this video here.

More will come, I am sure.

Little People, Big World (Championships)

Good luck, good luck, good luck!
We're so excited for you!

Big love from everyone back home.

Just a reminder that you can send 'get well' messages to Shona Morgan via ozgymblog@gmail.com and they will be forwarded to her. I will also include messages that have been left on Comments pages here. You can remain anonymous if you would like but it would be nice to know what city, state or country you're writing from.

You can also follow the live WCSN webstreams at the following times:

Men’s All Around Final (LIVE) - Fri Oct 16th from 4.30am

Women’s All-Around Final (LIVE) - Sat Oct 17th from 4.30am

Individual Apparatus Finals Day 1 (LIVE) - Sat Oct 17th from 10.55pm

Individual Apparatus Finals Day 2 (LIVE) - Sun Oct 18th from 10.55pm


(All times are AEDST. See GA for information about how to register for, and view, the streams)

I don't think I'll be staying up for women's AA but I will get up early on Saturday morning to try and keep up before the competition ends.

WAG Qualification Round-Up

Woah, staying up til 2am liveblogging is NOT the best idea.

G'morning, starshines. I am still reeling from last night's emotional madness.

Anyway, woke up glad I didn't sleep through Lauren's subdivision. Here's where we are at so far.

Subdivision 5: Lauren Mitchell

Mitchell (AUS) UB Jaeger, toe on 1/1, double front off.

and

Lauren Mitchell AUS--on Beam--ff ff layout, aerial walkover to punch front, ff ff double pike--6.1-8.1/14.20 For 9th place so far!

Mitchell FX double Arabian, piked full in, double pike.

(from The All Around. No indication of errors on FX, so that's good, right?)

oh wait...

Aussie Laren Mitchell looking great on floor - super first tumble, arabian double front, very high. Step out later though. 14.050 rank 5

VT: Lauren (Baitova) gets 14.475 to go into 2nd overall w 56.675!!

Later..

All Around after qualifying: 1. Bross USA--57.40, 2. Porgras ROM--57.30, 3.Mitchell AUS--56.675.

Her beam score got raised to 14.4 after a score protest.




!!!!! Top 3 overall!!! Could we see a repeat of Melbourne 2005? Hang in there, Lauren, you're in the mix!

Meanwhile... (quite unofficially)

Larrissa goes into UB final ranked 5th! Lauren equal 5th into beam final and 5th into floor final! And Lauren is UNQUESTIONABLY into the all-around final!

Here we go....

1 153 BROSS Rebecca USA 57.400 (1)
2 127 PORGRAS Ana ROU 57.300 (2)
3 17 MITCHELL Lauren AUS 56.675 (3)
4 36 DENG Linlin CHN 56.350 (4)
5 151 SLOAN Bridget USA 56.075 (5)
6 133 KURBATOVA Ekaterina RUS 55.950 (6)
7 94 TSURUMI Koko JPN 55.925 (7)
8 37 YANG Yilin CHN 55.500 (8)
9 138 KAESLIN Ariella SUI 55.450 (9)
10 132 SEMENOVA Ksenia RUS 54.900 (10)
11 56 IZURIETA Ana Maria ESP 54.750 (11)
12 63 DUFOURNET Youna FRA 54.375 (12)
13 126 TAMIRJAN Anamaria ROU 54.250 (13)
14 104 GARCIA RODRIGUEZ BLANCAS Elsa MEX 54.225 (14)
15 62 MOREL Pauline FRA 54.200 (15)
16 68 BUI Kim GER 54.175 (16)
17 92 GALANTE Paola ITA 54.150 (17)
18 34 ROGERS Brittany CAN 54.050 (18)
19 65 WING Rebecca GBR 53.875 (19)
20 64 DOWNIE Rebecca GBR 53.775 (20)
21 95 UEMURA Miki JPN 53.325 (21)
22 120 KIM Un Hyang PRK 53.125 (22)
23 27 KUROIWA YAMAMOTO LEAL Bruna BRA 52.850 (23)
24 142 WAGNER Veronica SWE 52.750 (24)

****************************************

VT
1 154 WILLIAMS Kayla USA 14.812
2 121 HONG Un Jong PRK 14.787
3 134 MYZDRIKOVA Anna RUS 14.450
4 138 KAESLIN Ariella SUI 14.325
5 133 KURBATOVA Ekaterina RUS 14.225
6 63 DUFOURNET Youna FRA 14.212
7 34 ROGERS Brittany CAN 13.975
8 104 GARCIA RODRIGUEZ BLANCAS Elsa MEX 13.862

UB
1 35 HE Kexin CHN 15.975
2 153 BROSS Rebecca USA 15.050
3 122 CHA Yong Hwa PRK 15.025
4 94 TSURUMI Koko JPN 14.775
5 16 MILLER Larrissa AUS 14.650
6 151 SLOAN Bridget USA 14.600
7 127 PORGRAS Ana ROU 14.575
8 93 LICCHETTA Serena ITA 14.200

BB
1 127 PORGRAS Ana ROU 14.850
2 120 KIM Un Hyang PRK 14.775
3 36 DENG Linlin CHN 14.450
4 152 HONG Ivana USA 14.400
5 17 MITCHELL Lauren AUS 14.400
6 94 TSURUMI Koko JPN 14.375
7 37 YANG Yilin CHN 14.375
8 91 PREZIOSA Elisabetta ITA 14.275


FX
1 134 MYZDRIKOVA Anna RUS 14.500
2 38 SUI Lu CHN 14.275
3 127 PORGRAS Ana ROU 14.175
4 67 TWEDDLE Elizabeth GBR 14.075
5 17 MITCHELL Lauren AUS 14.050
6 39 GIL ORTIZ Jessica COL 14.050
7 36 DENG Linlin CHN 14.000
8 153 BROSS Rebecca USA 13.950

DO YOUR BIT

GOT TWITTER?

hashtag trend #larrissamiller - two r's, two s', two l's. Let's get this girl noticed! She has converted me into a believer!

October 14th (strictly speaking, 15th in some Eastern areas) shall henceforth be known as Larrissa Miller Day! Even England are getting in on the act. Check this post-subdivision observation:

Larrissa is sitting with the rest of the team (minus Lauren and plus Emma) and getting mobbed for autographs! Too cute!

Breaking news: Reigning world champ Ksenia Semyenova scored a 14.2 in her preliminary round on bars. LARRISSA HAS, AT PRESENT, OUT-SCORED A WORLD CHAMPION.



GOT FREQUENT FLYER MILES?

Anyone in London at the moment - Couch Gymnast, Sezi, other people I've corresponded with who I won't name (you know who you are, my special ones!) - please please please, if you see Shona around the stands (I assume it'll be a crutches-and-despondent-spectator situation) please give her the very best from her fans back home and tell her we wish her well. She's a lovely young lady and it's devastating that her competition got cut short.


Thanks in advance.


Now, to you lovely internet peeps...

GOT SENTIMENT?


Please send any 'get well' messages for Shona Morgan to ozgymblog@gmail.com and I will forward them on to the necessary Waverley representative.


It's now 2am. Time to send out sleepy good vibes...

WAG Qualification LIVE!

Here we go, here we go, here we go...

And already I need a change of pants!

Follow quick hits here, or here, and if you're a Twitter follower you can follow @gymnasticKT or @intlgymnast. It's a bit hard (for me, personally) to live blog AND liveTweet at the same time. But by all means, follow @ozgymblog while you're there!

International Gymnast also has quick hits on Facebook.

View the official start list here.


Subdivision 1: Georgia Bonora


She's in the "sparkly pink" leotard.

(Thanks, K.)

Bonora (AUS) VT: FTY (hop).

From IG:

Georgia Bonora AUS opened on vault--Yurchenko full with the usual rebound on the landing--5.0/8.5/13.4 yes the now normal new middle line deduction of .1

Scores seem quite low thus far in this session. COULD Lauren be met with 'later subdivision score boosting', the likes of which we've seen in Worlds and Olympics past?

UB comaneci, clear hip to undershoot, open legs on giants, double front with big step forward and squat landing. Score 12.9.

BB wolf jump, switch leap - back tuck, free aerial, flic – layout, onodi, side somi (wobble), free cartwheel, ro – double pike off (low chest and step fwd).13.25

She's 6th overall after 3 rotations.

FX full in (oob landed, chest low), double back (hop), triple spin, 1 ½ through 2/1 (landed oob), double pike dismount.

Ohhhhh crap.

Bonora AUS on Floor--Full in mount but stepped out of the area, tuck double, 2 3/4 flat foot turn, 1 1/2 step out to full out of the area, double pike landed low and stepped forward. 5.2-7.225/.6 neutral--11.825

Might've been the ankles playing up? Or something? She's now 7th AA after that subdivision. I just want to go give her a hug! It's like Dasha in Beijing all over again!

Buck up, GBo! You did your best!

Subdivision 2: Shona Morgan, Larrissa Miller

Morgan (AUS) BB split jump –wolf jump, free aerial – flic – layout, switch leap – rulfova, ½ split leap (fall), switch ring leap, side aerial (fall), side somi, ro – double pike off (step back). 11.025

Oh wow.

I jinxed it, didn't I.

I disappeared for TEN MINUTES and this happens. Poor Shona.

Morgan VT during warm up she landed very short her BAITOVA and injured herself, she is still on the floor trying to get up, her knee is in pain and she is crying.

She was stretchered out after being seen to by a huddle of medics.

Oh, I do hope she's ok. CAN YOU HEAR ME FROM WHERE YOU ARE SHONA? WE LOVE YOU, GET BETTER SOON!!!!

I hope Larrissa and Lauren don't get rattled by this. They deserve to go on and do well for Shona as well as themselves. Sorry to get all Remember The Titans on you. This was NOT the Worlds any of us were hoping for! Oh this is awful so far. I know I always say "don't sound the death knell" but yeesh, at the rate we're going, Lauren could be hit by lightning just walking into the arena when the time comes.

Please gymgods, let the world right itself again and let the Aussies have some redemption.

Ok, can't dwell on the bad stuff.

It's Larrissa's time to shine!

Holy crap, IG says

Sorry we missed Larrissa Miller on Bars where she scored 6.1-8.55--14.65 which is the highest score there so far!!!!

And then...

stalder 1/1 – Gienger, undershoot, good lines, stalder ½ - Jaeger, full in (stuck). Good.

I'mma Just Say

I didn't get the chance to say this earlier, and a lot of people have aired their sentiments already, but...

Best of luck to Lauren, Georgia, Shona, Prashanth in his final and most of all to debutante Larrissa. We're so proud of you to have made it this far, we hope you have the competition of your lives and hit when it counts. You are a credit to your coaches, your gyms, the national program, your families and - above all - yourselves. It has been an honour to correspond with some of your family and friends who have illustrated just how hard you've been working. You have every right to be in that arena and performing for those crowds.

I hope you got your special Fan Project package (I haven't heard back yet!) and that you recognise just how many people are behind you.

Be confident,
be proud,
be your best!

You can probably hear our cheers from halfway 'round the world! GO AUSSIES!

MAG Qualification Round-Up

Wow, a real mixed bag of results came out of London!

Sam Offord is to be commended for his final ranking of 31st all-around (score 82.250). It's a shame he didn't make the final, but to just miss out on the top 30 at a World Championships is a damn good effort. Onward and upward from here!

I was very sad to read Phil Rizzo didn't hit the best routine on high bar but he has the honour of being in a VERY prestigious group of previous medallists (nay, GOLD medallists!) fighting for a finals spot.

Sam S and Josh J didn't have the greatest of days either but they were up against some stiff competition, and represented their country admirably on the podium.



And who could forget, our favourite little pint-sized doctor-in-training, Prashanth Sellathurai who is THROUGH TO THE POMMEL HORSE FINAL! A chance to go one better! Melbourne/Stuttgart redemption! etc etc etc!

Hopefully he worked out all the bobbles on the podium and can put up a great showing in the final. This is a great result for him so far and shows where hard work can get you! It will be intriguing to see him against hometown favourite Louis Smith.


The women start this evening (London time) and I'm glad to say that I finally will be around tonight and tomorrow to give the event the best live coverage I can (except for the whole 4-in-the-morning thing). So stay tuned!

The Australian Women's team will go through their paces in the qualification rounds of the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships today/tomorrow AEDST.

The first sub-division of the qualification round will feature Georgia Bonora competing all apparatus. The event kicks off at 19.50 AEDST.

Subdivision 1: 19:50pm AEDST -Wednesday 14th
Georgia Bonora (All-Around)

The second sub-division of the qualification round will feature both Shona Morgan and Larrissa Miller. The sub division kicks off at 22.30 AEDST

Subdivision 2: 10.30pm AEDST - Wednesday 14th
Shona Morgan (Vault)
Larrissa Miller (Uneven Bars)
Shona Morgan (Beam)

The fifth sub-division of the qualification round will feature Lauren Mitchell competing all apparatus. The sub-division kicks off at 04.50 AEDT - Thursday 15th October

Subdivision 5: 4.50am AEDST - Thursday 15th
Lauren Mitchell (All Around)