Saturday, September 18, 2010

Rotterdam 2010: Team Australia (WAG)

(Back Row L-R Simpson, Dennis, Bonora, Brennan
Front Row L-R Miller, Little, Mitchell, Simpson)


Congratulations and very best wishes to

Ashleigh Brennan
Georgia Bonora
Emily Little
Larrissa Miller
Lauren Mitchell
Georgia Simpson
Georgia Wheeler

with Emma Dennis as non-travelling reserve.

See more training camp and trial photos here.

While we're on the topic of World Championship teams, very best wishes to Naazmi Johnston, Danielle Prince, Janine Murray, Enid Sung and the NSW group who are over in Moscow for the Rhythmic World Championships.


Understandably these are all exciting developments, but please remember to maintain a respectful manner when discussing the team members and the team's prospects as a whole.

98 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does it mean anything that 7 girls (the number going to worlds) are wearing green and gold and 3 aren't? Has the team already been picked?

Anonymous said...

I assume the three not in the green and gold leo are Georgia W, Natasha and Sophie. I could be wrong but i think they have not represented Australia and thus would not have a green and gold leo.

Anonymous said...

Georgia S i mean

Anonymous said...

Yes that makes sense. Thanks. Can't wait to hear who makes the team. I'm surprised there hasn't been any news about what the girls have been doing. Usually someone posts something.

Anonymous said...

please anyone have any news? PLEEEEEASE?

Mez said...

Given that, to all intents and purposes, it's a closed trial inside the AIS gym and the only people who COULD offer insights are the coaches and gymnasts, I honestly don't expect a great deal of observation to be filtering out (aside from approved sources such as Ashleigh's diaries).

Anonymous said...

Further to the last comment re the final Rotterdam World Championship WG Trial - the 2 days of competition at the AIS training gym were open to anyone who was able to attend with the final scores flashed as the gymnasts competed. If anyone who was there wants to let everyone know about the comp - routines, insights, gos etc. they could do just that.

Mez said...

Huh.

Scores flashed and everythun'?

Hope we DO get some insight, then! ;)

nade00 said...

I am really curious, especially to see how Emily and Lauren pulled up after their injury setbacks. I wish Gymnastics Australia would do a report or something about the trial. They do them for camps, so I don't see why they should completely ignore worlds trials.

Anonymous said...

Give 'em a chance, guys! It's not like this happened a month ago.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same thing. It is a weekend too.

Anonymous said...

For diving fans: Saturday 25th October Channel 10 "The Making of..." features Matt Mitcham.

Wonder if we'll see a gymnastics episode as well?! I'd love to see one on Prashanth.

Anonymous said...

I did hear that Sofie and Natasha had both withdrawn after Day 1 with injury. If so, the last two positions will be selected from Larissa, Emma and Georgia S.

I think the announcement will be made this morning.

Anonymous said...

I have everything crossed for Emma Dennis, I really hope she gets the chance to represent Aus at Worlds!

Anonymous said...

Me 2 go emma!

Anonymous said...

I assume the world team will consist of the CWG and two others. Does anyone know if when the team is announced they will say who is only the reserve.
I think Emma D has a good shot. I used to think that the sixth world spot would go to Larrissa if she had her bars in order but given Emma is pretty conistent across most apparatus and Georgia W has been inconsistent this year Emma may make it on to the team. Because at worlds you need five different gymnasts on each apparatus in quals.

Anonymous said...

I never knew who the fifth member of the 1998 team was. Turned out is was Katarina Frketic I had to look it up.

Anonymous said...

I haaaaate the wait

In my opinion the best outcome for Australia would be for Larrissa to be selected and to have hit bars at the trial - a big scoring routine could really make a big difference, moreso than a slight increase in the 5th score because only 4 are counted in prelims anyway.

Then we would be looking at

VT - 5.0, 5.2, 5.3, 5.8, 5.8
(No Wheeler)

UB - 5.3, 5.3, 5.6, 5.6, 6.4
(No Brennan)

BB - ?, 5.6, 5.9, 6.0, 6.5

plus a set of acceptable routines on floor.

Anonymous said...

Yes but who would be the fifth competitor on beam, Georgia W or Larrissa? and which one of them would compete floor?

Anonymous said...

Floor just based on what we have seen this year and last year
5.8 (Lauren)
5.3(Emily)
5.1(Georgia B)
I think Ashleigh had about a 5.4 or something like that at Vics and Nationals but I am not competely sure.
I do agree that Larrissa will make a huge difference to UB if she hits.
The vault D scores listed by Anon 6:14 are really the best case scenario. Whilst I would expect Emily to have a DTY given Lauren's injury problems this year I would think it may not be certain that she would have one although I hope she does. Georgia B has not competed a Y1.5 since the Beijing Olympics because of her injuries and from what you hear she still has problems with her ankles.

Anonymous said...

I would say larrissa would do floor and Georgia w beam possibly....

Anonymous said...

If she can do the routine she has planned Larrissa's fx will be very competitive. Double arabian,front full twist+front double twist, triple twist, 2.5 twist+stag jump.

Anonymous said...

Bonora told the media she has 'lots of upgrades on vault and floor' after nationals, where she did Yurchenko full. So one can deduce that she will be doing a harder vault at CWG and worlds, likely to be at least a 1.5, and will have higher than 5.1 on floor.

Anonymous said...

I wish we knew some scores from nationals. That would tell us a lot more. So Georgia B should have a Y1.5 and a harder floor that is good. I would probably think Larrissa would be in if her bars were coming along well because bars is where Australia is going to be weaker. At CWG it doesn't really matter because it doesn't look like England and Canada are strong on that apparatus but it would be nice for Australia to have a good bar worker.

Anonymous said...

at worlds

Anonymous said...

All the Perth nationals scores are available on the GA website.

Anonymous said...

Yes if Larrissa is doing well on bars then we will be especially well placed for team finals. It seems at the moment there are 2 places up for grabs after USA, China, Romania, Russia, Japan and Great Britain. Our main competition will probably be France, Netherlands, Ukraine, Italy, Canada. If we do make it, we should be fairly competitive.

Anonymous said...

though I think it will be difficult I believe we can outscore Japan & Great Britain at worlds, which would make us 5th behind USA, China, Romania & Russia.

Anonymous said...

Really? I'd be very surprised if we did outscore them considering GBR beat Romania at Euros and Japan beat us by like 10 points at the dual meet last November. A lot hinges on Miller and on Mitchell and Little being ready.

Anonymous said...

5th would be nice but Japan will be tough to beat if they hit clean routines with the start scores they will have and we know that Britain will be strong contenders for the team competition with their assortment of Beth Tweddle in addition to other experienced competitiors.

Mez said...

My fingernails are nubs!

I can't take the waiting much longer!

Anonymous said...

I think it would be great to see Australia finish top 8. Because thats where we have to finish next year to avoid a second qualification. If Larrissa'a bars were in good order than that would help Australia's chances. I would love to know how Lauren is doing because although she did so well at last year's worlds this year will probably be stronger competition and she has had a string of injuries this year. I would still be expecting her to do well on her best apparatus' beam and floor but I was wondering if it maybe harder for her on vault and bars this year. According to the media reports Emily only strained ligaments in her elbow so I would think she should be ready.

Anonymous said...

I love how on the thumbnail of that Youtube video - right in the middle (green and white jacket) - is Lydia Lassila! love her :)

Anonymous said...

Italy also have some exceptional talent at the moment, presented in an interesting and original way. They will be hard to beat.

Anonymous said...

I didn't realise Melinda was so close to making the commonwealth games team. The girls look so young!! The presenters looked a bit daggy!! What was with those blue suits?? They spoke well though and had kind words to the girls.

Anonymous said...

more photos have also gone up on the vic hpc website - yay

Anonymous said...

2010 World Championships Team: Georgia Bonora, Ashleigh Brennan, Emily Little, Larrissa Miller, Lauren Mitchell, Georgia Simpson & Georgia Wheeler. Emma Dennis has been named as the non-traveling reserve

Anonymous said...

So will they designate the final reserve at the very last moment then?

Anonymous said...

oooooooooooooooo go Georgia Simpson! Can anyone please tell us about her routines/skills?

Anonymous said...

Wow three Georgia's!!! It's getting very confusing knowing which one is which - especially when we don't see too much of them in the media. Can anyone give me some info on all of them?

Anonymous said...

There are no videos of Simpson's gymnastics anywhere, so have no idea about her. I think she is a bars/beamer.

With Wheeler not having a difficult vault, I suppose there is a chance Simpson could bump out Wheeler if her bars are more useful, because you also probably wouldn't rely on Wheeler on beam or floor just yet.

Anonymous said...

Way to go Georgia!

Anonymous said...

Nice team squad! Go girls.

Anonymous said...

lovely team! well done everyone. I feel really sad for Emma though, she has lovely gymnastics but so much bad luck.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 12.26- is this verified on any website?

Could Emma Dennis still be feeling the wrath of the trip to the Aus Court of Arbitration over the 2008 selection? I am not meaning to seem controversial, but she does miss out an awful lot! That being said the team looks great and the selectors always do a good job on these teams!

Anonymous said...

Yes confirmed on Both GA and GV websites

Anonymous said...

saw this on GV website:
http://www.gymnasticsvictoria.org.au/default.asp?Page=18129

Anonymous said...

Where is it on GA website? GWA have
also some nice pictures of their 3 Athletes.

Anonymous said...

Pretty amazing seeing as my reliable source tells me that Emma beat Georgia S. by 5 marks over the two days combined. Could she be the most cheated gymnast we have known?

Anonymous said...

Yes well she would. But that doesn't mean that Georgia didn't show something impressive on one or two apparatus. The last few positions are NOT about AA scores! Did your source give a balanced account of the trial or just this little tidbit to get the Emma conspiracy theorists going again? It must be tough for Emma to have just missed out on major teams so many times but she shows great strength to keep going - as do all the gymnasts who are yet to be selected to an australian team.

Anonymous said...

well said! Unless you were there for the whole training camp I don't think you should make such remarks. All these girls deserve the opportunity and maybe this is Georgia's she has also had her fair share of disappointment.

Anonymous said...

and here we go again... as soon as a team is announced someone has to disagree with it! Why don't we all just respect the decisions that have been made and encourage them to do well instead!
MH

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone would be suggesting that Georgia S doesn't deserve a spot, particularly since we don't know anything about her really. Just that you do wonder what else Emma could possibly have to do to gain selection. You have to admit it looks very much like pay back for a gymnast who is clearly as competitive as the others, and in fact beats some of them and is still left off teams.
You can't blame the average fan for wondering about the politics of this sport.

Anonymous said...

Your "reliable source" is not at all reliable!!!! Emma Dennis came 8th out of 8 gymnasts on both days of the competition (therefore could not have been beaten by Georgia Simpson). Emma is to be congratulated on sticking in there, and I hope she eventually gets some rewards. Anon 3.49 pleeeeease tell your crappy "reliable source" that they should be ashamed of themsleves for duping you into thinking that Emma beat Georgia by 5 points! Mischief making at the expense of the truth is immoral. Do not imply there is a conspiracy theory and take away from those girls who rightfully earned their selection through legitimate results.

Anonymous said...

I wish GA would make the process more transparent and post up the scores, then we can easily see why some were selected over others and the how apparatus lineups should go.

Anonymous said...

do you guys have any scores? of any gymnasts on any events?

Anonymous said...

Anon 504pm - just wondering - does any other country in the world do this?

Anonymous said...

I am Anon 3:49 and I stand by my source. The information is correct.

Georgia is a fine gymnast. She was selected and good on her, I sincerely hope she does well.

I too believe in the truth. There is nothing to be gained by making that comment if it were not true.

It is a fact that GS had 3 falls on day one. Except a large wobble on beam, ED had four hit routines, not perfect, but pretty solid. With similar start scores, how is it possible that ED could have placed 8th?

There is only ever one reason why scores are not made public and that is to prevent proper public scrutiny. Anon 5:02 has been misled. You need to refer to the judges scores and not Peggy's for the truth.

Out of respect for Mez's board and in the interest of keeping it civil, I won't respond beyond this.
Peace to all.

Anonymous said...

To anon 5.58pm. Sorry but you don't sound very sincere to me, if you are
then perhaps you would accept the selection by the people who were there for the week and not just the trial.

Anonymous said...

Anon 6.06, you are joking right? the way girls are selected for all major events is suspect at best and has been that way forever. If you are in favour or your club is,you're set. The rules are written so loosely that you could drive a truck through them. They are written so as to allow selectors to choose whomever they want regrdless of scores at sanctioned events, physical fitness, ability to actually compete etc etc etc.
Don't be so naive - and sadly the girls learn very early that selection to squads, scholarships and teams is not always based on merit or skill in this sport.

Anonymous said...

There probably is bias and no doubt Emma D is unlucky to just miss out again. Many though she should have made the Olympic team instead of Olivia Vivian but given bars were Australia's weakest apparatus in Beijing and Olivia hit two solid routines it is hard to argue with that decision.
Emma was also lucky to miss out on the last years worlds after coming 3rd AA at the trials. However, Lauren and Georgia who finished ahead of her naturally got the two AA spots. Larrissa was selected for bars and made the final. Shona was selected for vault and beam and may have made the vault final if not for that unfortunate injury. I doubt Emma would have made any apparatus finals in London last year so I think the right decision was made there also.
I have no idea what happened at trials for this worlds and I am not sure if Emma deserved to be on the team or not. I know Emma has been unlucky just to miss out but I don't know if it is some big conspiracy because I think in Bejing 08 and London 09 the right team was selected.

Anonymous said...

unlucky, not lucky second paragraph

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know who one over the two days?

Anonymous said...

Anyone know why Peggy isn't listed as a coach???

Anonymous said...

Peggy is listed as the Head Coach. The state sites may only list the officials from their state but Peggy is head coach

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. Thanks for clearing that up :)

Nik said...

They have named 7 girls but only 6 compete, correct? So will they just decide the team when they're over there? I guess it depends on how the Comm Girls pull up after that competition.

It seems like a good team, but does seem unlucky that ED missed out, but I can't recall a team that wasn't the best fit in the years gone past. I do agree the process should be more transparent.

Does anyone have any information about who may line up for each apparatus? Clearly GB and LM are AAers and probably EL in prelims but for the others- GS particularly as I know nothing about her!

Anonymous said...

Georgia Simpson Bars and Beam

Anonymous said...

selection is very transparent, but not wish rose-coloured glasses on! luck has nothing to do with it, it was about preparation

Anonymous said...

selection is very transparent, but not WITH rose-coloured glasses....

Anonymous said...

Of course selection is transperant. Of course the little people don't need to know why some are in while others are out, and they certainly don't need to know how the girls fair against one another at official trials. The simple people will only get confused by seeing those complicated score sheets!!!
Yeah, real transparant!

No matter what shade your glasses, Anon 11:57 won't see anything with your head stuck in the sand.

Anonymous said...

Nor will you, with yours stuck up your ar**!

Anonymous said...

Keep it nice peopl. The reality is that Emma's D scores have simply not been high enough - i don't know if her D scores have improved at the camp - perhaps someone can enlighten as to what her D scores are - but up until now they have been quite low. Perhaps it is injury - not sure but i think her highest D score was a 5.2 or 5.3

Anonymous said...

All class Anon 12:37.
I bet you're a Collingwood supporter too...
;-)

Mez said...

Some contributors are treading on very thin ice.

I'm not averse to page-locking, people. Keep it civil or go somewhere else to vent your spleens, please.

Anonymous said...

I don't why it is necessary to attack each other. Even though who the travelling reserve is for worlds is not announced there is just a squad of seven is the fact that Georgia Simpson is in a different leo to the others suggest that maybe she is the reserve.

Anonymous said...

Georgia is in a different Leo because
she has not yet represented Australia
and does not have the Aus Leo. That is the only reason why she is different.

Anonymous said...

Ok, is that just WA leo then? I know she hasn't represented Australia yet but considering she is travelling with the team I though they might give her the same leo. It's not like the leo is green and gold.

Wolfie said...

Call me a hypocrit, but I've kind of enjoyed this thread. Some of the comments have definitely amused me - i.e. the head up arse comment and the Collingwood supporter comment.

Yes, yes - I know. Time and a place and all that.

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if the Collingwood Supporter comment came from a St Kilda supporter?

Anonymous said...

I think it is the new WA Comp Leo.
Nikki Chung wore it at Nationals I think. Maybe the havn't given out the
Uniforms yet, these pics look like they were taken after day 2 comp as they all have Mag on . GO ST KILDA!

Anonymous said...

yep, Georgia's is the WAIS leo and the pic was taken right after the comp on day 2. I'm guessing the pink and black will be the AA or EF leo for CWG which is probably why Brennan has it. The rest got it in their PacRim or worlds 09 kits.

Anonymous said...

girls have pre-determined score to get and they automatically get onto team, if they don't get score, they go into the selection pool, simple, very transparent to me

Anonymous said...

some results from the first part of the rythmic world championships:
http://www.rhythmicgymnasticsresults.com/worlds/2010

nade00 said...

On the topic of the reserve, I think they can even decide on the final 6 for the team after podium training. I remember in Stuttgart that several teams had 7 girls on the podium during training and then they designated who wouldn't be competing afterwards.

Anonymous said...

Given the CWG isn't far before worlds Australia may leave it to the last minute. If Larrissa has her bars in order then I would love to see her on the team because it would greatly improve Australia's score on that apparatus and it looks like difficulty could be lacking on that apparatus without her. As mentioned if she can get her floor together then she may be able to compete on that apparatus and at she has a solid FTY on vault.
I was wondering if maybe the final spot may come done to Georgia W and Georgia S whoever can compete better on bars on beam. This is purely speculation of course but I was wondering if the worlds team could be something like:

Lauren AA
Georgia B AA
Emily AA
Ashleigh VT/BB/FX
Larrissa VT/UB/FX
Georgia W or Georgia S UB/BB
As Georgia W only has a layout Yurchenko and I have no idea what sort of vault Georgia S has.

Anonymous said...

That is a perfect team configuration!

I agree it comes down to UB/BB Wheeler vs Simpson. If Wheeler doesn't hit at CWG then her spot could be in real jeopardy.

Anonymous said...

Wheeler actually has an extremely respectable and dynamic front pike vault as well. She wouldn't be competing a layout yurchenko unless she was trying for vault finals and two different families. And I have no doubt she will eventually have a DTY, she's quite a strong vaulter, actually.

Anonymous said...

Yes but the problem is a front pike only has a difficulty of 4.6. I am sure Georgia is a good vaulter but at the moment lack of difficulty may prevent her from competing on vault internationally. Of the other CWG girls Ashleigh Brennan is likely to have the lowest start value of 5.2 but that is still 0.6 higher than the front pike. But if Georgia is planning on having her Yurchenko as her main vault in the future wouldn't she be better off competing a layout Yurchenko if she got the chance internationally?

Nik said...

Do we know if there is doubt over the gymnasts attending Dehli?? With the discus champ pulling out and the threats of disease and terrorism it has been left up to the individuals whether they would like to attend at this stage.

Personally, i would still go- I think security will be tight and Aus officials would ensure the athletes has adequate protection from disease. My brother just cam home from a trip to India and said it was AMAZING. However if it was my 15/16 year old daughter I'm not sure how I'd feel.

Anonymous said...

Article on GA website about Lauren and the ranking of the girls in the trial. Lauren 6 points ahead of Emily then Georgia B, Ash, Georgia W and Larissa

Anonymous said...

I think I would be more concerned about illness with the girls.Especially with Worlds so close after.

Anonymous said...

Lauren has obviously come back very well.
I was reading last night about the state of the athletes village in Delhi, there was talk that Delhi may not be ready to host the games.

Anonymous said...

Considering Georgia W came fifth at trials I would think she would be unlucky to miss out on a place on the worlds team.
Given the trial results I would imagine it would be Lauren, Emily and Georgia B competing AA at CWG and worlds.

Anonymous said...

Given that AA scores have nothing to do with the last few places on the team and we don't know the apparatus scores I think it's hard to predict who will compete out of Wheeler and Simpson.

Anonymous said...

Laren's parents are so concerned about disease, security and terrorism that they and her siblings aren't going to Delhi to watch her, and are keen to have her back asap.

I don't think that any of the gymnasts will pull out though since it is such a team aspect. An individual runner or discus champ I can understand but if one girl pulls out of our gym team the whole team falls over. The girls have worked so hard to get selection onto the team that I don;t think they'd even consider pulling out.

Anonymous said...

A lot of the athlete's parents aren't going mainly for security reasons I think. Most believe that it will be safe around the athletes village and the venues but not as safe for other visitors.
I agree that I wouldn't think any of the girls will pull out because of the team factor but there are still serious issues with the venues in Delhi. A bridge at the main stadium collapsed, the roof at the weightlifting arena collapsed and several countries believe that the athlete's village is still in terrible shape. The NZ team are not staying at the athlete's village because it is so bad. So there is still talk that Delhi may not be ready, the opening ceremony is less than two weeks away and there is still a lot of work to do. They have had seven years to organise everything, its pretty bad really.

Nik said...

I think, also, we do have to understand that 5 star in India is not exactly 5 star in the developed world. People are saying that their facilities are not clean enough but probably compared to every other part of India, they are immaculate! People have to realise where they are going and appreciate it for what it is. It was good to hear Lauren's take in the SMH, she has a good head on her shoulders.

That being said, i wouldn't be confident walking on any bridges...