Thursday, July 22, 2010

No ShoMo No Mo'

Best wishes to Olympian Shona Morgan who, it was announced today, has decided to retire from elite gymnastics here in Oz and concentrate on her commitment to Stanford University. Read the news and a statement from Peggy Liddick here.




I am sure Shona will be an exceptionally valuable asset to the Stanford class of 2011, and I hope she has as enjoyable a time with them as we have seen our other collegiate Aussies have with their schools. I had the pleasure of meeting her at an event outside of gymnastics and she was as pleasant as I'd always presumed she would be. As a competitor, she boasted difficult skills performed with elegance, and a calm demeanour to boot. With multiple state and national medals under her belt, it is no surprise that Shona's name has appeared in the Australian lineup for two world championships (three, if you count her reserve role in 2006) and an Olympics.





Shona was a Rotterdam contender and listed as a reserve for the Commonwealth Games team but, in retirement, has relinquished both positions. You can read about the rest of the Delhi team lineup here.

AGB HAS ALWAYS, AND WILL CONTINUE TO, FRIGGIN' LOVE SHONA MORGAN.

Rock on, ranga girl. Have fun Stateside.


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck Shona for the future.

Anonymous said...

So that means GW is now first reserve. Oh no! She is definitely not ready for Comm. Games if someone pulls out.

Who will be 2nd reserve? Larrissa?

Anonymous said...

I can't see Larissa making reserve. She is clearly a specialist so would not be a good fit if an all-rounder became injured. My guess is Emma Dennis.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if they will include a 12th girls into the squad or just go with the 11 that are left?

Anonymous said...

There is no travelling reserve to Delhi so if there is an injury late then there will basically only be four on the team.

Anonymous said...

What about if they become injured befoe they leave?

Also, why would you not have your reserve there ready to go. What a massive shame it would be to have your named reserve sitting at home when you need them.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Shona on such an awesome contribution to Australian gymnastics. It has been fantastic to watch your gymnastics over the last five to ten years here in Victoria.

As for commonwealth games I would think you would definitely need an all-round reserve. Particularly with three gymnasts able to do AA. If you put an apparatus specialist as a reserve you'd just be gambling really.

Anonymous said...

Good luck Shona with your future!

Such a shame - her consistency and proven track record of HITTING in international comps. should have had her on the team. Love the way her and Georgia STAY ON THE BEAM in comps - such a nice change!!

I hope Peggy's 'experimentation' with MM pays off!! From memory I think in the past the reserves for commonwealths have not travelled with the team - actually I don't even remember reserves being announed in 98, 2002 or 2006. Did we have them then?

Anonymous said...

Monique blount was the reserve for the 2006 commonwealth games team so yes they have previously named reserves ;-)

Anonymous said...

Good luck to Shona for her NCAA career. She has been such a great competitor for Aus over the past few years and I'm sure she will have every success in the USA. Well done Shona!

Anonymous said...

You'd have to think Emma Dennis would be the 2nd reserve now, I wonder when it will be announced?

Anonymous said...

The timing of Shona's retirement doesn't give me good vibes.....unless she's decided she wants to focus on studies or something like that between now and when she goes to the US, but I doubt it - she must have finished year 12 as she's got into Stanford.

Perhaps just not wanting to 'play the game' and deal with all of the politics that goes with being selected for major teams. Maybe she'll go to Stanford earlier??

I didn't think Peggy's comments were that great - ok, but not great...she was much more complimentary on Monette when she retired, but I guess she did place 3rd at worlds.

Anonymous said...

They took a reserve in 2002, I think. Actually, IIRC they took a 6-member team and named the alternate (Danielle Kelly) after training at the venue. I'm not sure if Monique Blount was in Melbourne for 2006, but then she didn't need to be, it wouldn't have been difficult to arrange transport from Canberra if necessary. She was definitely training with the team at camp beforehand, and afterwards headed to PAC with three of the CWG team + Dasha. Can't remember what happened in 1998.

If the team has done the preparation then I don't think taking a travelling alternate is worth it. The alternate would not be staying in the village, so there would be even greater concern for food poisoning and possible security issues. If England and Canada were bringing their A teams, I think you could make a stronger argument for taking an alternate. But they're not, and so I think the team could absorb a loss due to injury and still do fine.

Anyway, congratulations to Shona on a fantastic career. I'm sure she's going to have the experience of a lifetime at Stanford! Go Cardinal!!

Anonymous said...

OK thanks guys - guess I'm not really up with it in terms of who was reserve in past games. Poor Danielle Kelly - didn't realise she just missed the commonwealth games and she missed the 2004 Olympics due to injury right?? Such a fine line between being able to say 'I represented Oz in major comps' and just not quite getting there!!

Anonymous said...

Naomi has also retired www.vwhpc.org

Nik said...

I think Shona has made a decision that is best for HER future. Seriously, to start college on time int he American Fall will be great for her. She seems to be very academic and I'm sure the first few weeks of the academic year could be the most important. now she'll get to head over, settle into classes, gym training, make friends with her new room and team mates and suck in the college life.

These next 4 years will probably be the most fun of her life. Knowing Standford and a couple of people who have graduated from there, Shona has just made a life decision as an adult and one I think will be great for her.

Congrats on your elite career Shona, but most importantly have a blast at college. Your solid and consistent performances will be a huge asset!

Anonymous said...

Let's hope none of the Comm Games squad gets injured now that Shona is not a reserve.

Anonymous said...

Exactly

Froggy said...

Let's hope none of the Comm Games squad gets injured .... full stop!!

Ribbit

P.S. Well done Shone, have a ball in the US of A.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Nik' comments. Being designated a reserve spot means there is no guarantee of competing. Sounds like Shona has decided to opt for something which will provide her with far more opportunities in her competitive career. Go Shona!

Anonymous said...

I have a strong feeling that Shona's retirement has come as a shock to GA and that their plans have backfired.

I believe they fully expected her to make the team in due course but had reason to select others for political reasons.

Clearly Shona has been one of Australia's top three gymnasts since the Olympics. The only gap was when she dislocated her knee at Worlds in Oct'09. She next competed at Vics where she comprehensively beat Ash Brennan by several marks. No disrespect to intended towards Ash as she has been a fabulous gymnast but at that time, was not nearly at the same level as Shona. Four weeks later at Nationals and Ash has improved somewhat but Shona has an uncharacteristically off competition. Shona still placed third.

Ash could not have been selected on her form at Vics so I presume she made it in based on Day 1 only of the Trial at Nats where she narrowly beat Shona. As Ash did not compete the 2nd day, there was no record that she would have been better. There is no justification for Ash's selection over Shona no matter how you look at it.

There is even less justification for the selection of Emily given a)her injury and b)her poor showing at Pacs.

There is even way less justification for selection of MAM. Other than Nats, she simply has no record of competition.

My prediction is that GA will announce that at least one gymnast will withdraw from the team due to injury and that GA planned it that way thinking that Shona would simply slot in. That will leave the door open for G.Wheeler as the next in line.

Good on you Shona for doing what is right for you. So happy to see GA's selectors with egg on their face.

Anonymous said...

Yes MAM doesnt have any international experience but how do we expect her to get any experience if we never send her anywhere. We all need to start somewhere.

Anonymous said...

Emily's poor showing at PAC RIM? Wasn't she the highest ranked Australian? Didn't she win a medal on vault? Didn't she make every final? Didn't she score over 55 without the benefit of a local judging panel? What a ridiculous comment!

Anonymous said...

Here, here anon 6.23.

Anonymous said...

Anon 521pm - not everything is a conspiracy of master proportions - isn't it JUST as possible that Shona decided to stay training in Aust to see if she was needed on the team, but seeing as she wasn't chosen to compete decided she may as well get to College on time, or perhaps she hasn't been feeling to great in training or something. If you're going to make allegations you should at least put your name to your comment IMO!
Meg

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:21 What is wrong with you?

Shona was unluckly not to make the CWG team but I don't think it was a major conspiracy.

Like it has been mentioned Emily performed quite well at Pac Rim, the highest overall score for any Australian, without her Australia may not have got team bronze.

Even with the depleted field Mary-anne did still finish second at nationals and thus is probably deservingly on the team. Maybe Ashleigh was selected maybe because Peggy thinks there will be improvement in her in the next few months.

Anonymous said...

Commonwealth Games has traditionally been a place for inexperienced gymnasts to get vitl experience in preperation for the Olympics two years later. What was great was that it gave junior gymnast who were ready to compete internationally the chance.

The formation of the teams doesn't seem that odd. 3 veterans and 2 inexperienced. Similar to the 2002 team. 2006 was an anomaly seeing as nearly everyone from the 2004 team retired.

I see it as Peggy wanting MM and Emily to get some experience. Ash getting picked over Shona strongly suggests that Shona deciding to do NCAA impacted on her selection chances. I don't see why. It's not like she was taking the spot of someone who could've used the experience if she were in place of Ash. Shona had come second at 2008 and 2009 nationals. She has already proven that she is a capable AAer.

While I don't think there was a conspiracy it is evident that there were other factors playing a role in selection.

BTW You can't go by Pac Rim scores either as they were hugley inflated, particularly on VT and BB.

Anonymous said...

The team is selected now and I just wish all the girls good luck and hope they do their best.

If Pac Rim scores were inflated then that is a bit of a worry though. Particularly because Emily scored highest on VT & BB.

Anonymous said...

Pac Rim scores were most definitely inflated across the board. You will not be seeing those kind of scores at Worlds.