Delhi Gold just teased us with footage of the girls from camp, looking fantastic. And I just got word that Peggy and the girls are heading into warm-up now!
If they're feeling nervous, they can take heart from these sweet musings, care of last night's men's event star, Josh Jefferis:
********************************************************"It makes it no less special to do it in front of a near empty stadium. We knew our family and friends would be watching and we would take them in our hearts with us.
"A few years ago at the world championships in Melbourne I tried to use the crowd but it didn't work. It distracted me. It made me more nervous. I learnt from that experience and now try to concentrate on what I am doing.
"They now say it is okay to have butterflies so long as they are flying in formation.''
Foxtel does a pre-event profile and interview with Lauren Mitchell! We get a glimpse of the girls in camp, and some PacRim highlights. They do a super-awkward shout-out to absentee Maryanne Monckton.
We're minutes away now!
March-in. Australia looks focussed!
Team leotard: Looks pretty much like Lauren's 2009 Worlds one, though the gold swirl on the front appears a little different. Emily will be first up on beam.
BB Little: wobble on front tuck. Falls on cossack turn! Front aerial, BHS LOSO. Switch wolf jump, switch split, back tuck. Change leg side leap. Stuck double back tuck dismount. 12.300
Apparently Ash had two falls? Scored 10.5? And Georgia B had a fall too for 11.950
BB Mitchell: OH NO! Falls on the flip-flip-layout sequence. Split jump, wolf jump. Cossack turn, just gets it around. Switch split half, back tuck. Front aerial, switch split, slight pause, front tuck. Switch ring, tiny wobble. Looks nervous! BHS, flip, double pike (low chest) 13.750
Come on, Aussies! Get back in the game!
FX Bonora: Rocking a bun! High double tuck, steps back. Niiiiiice double twist! Switch split. Triple turn. 1.5 through to full twist (stuck). Leap combination (sorry, missed it). Big pause before great double pike, almost almost almost stepped out! Peggy pleased. 13.200
*CHANNEL TEN'S COVERAGE HAS COMMENCED*
FX Brennan: Stuck full in! Double tuck, hops backwards. Unsteady full pirouette with leg up. Switch ring, switch split half. Split jump half. Punch front lay, front full to stag jump. Split jump full. Double pike nearly stuck, fantastic! 13.500
FX Mitchell: Big close-up on her face, serious focus! Beeeautiful arabian double to stag jump (must be the best she's EVER done it!) Piked full in, slight hop but stays in. Cossack turn a bit wobbly. Front 2.5 to front layout, skids a little. High double pike with a hop but great job! 14.25, top score so far!
Standings afer 2 rotations:
1. Australia 78.950
2. Canada 78.400
3. England 76.800
VT Mitchell fantastic DTY with a slight hop. She looked SO fierce as she prepared to head down the runway! 14.700
VT Little a "ditto" vault - great form, clean landing with a small hop. So much power! 14.550
VT Brennan: Tsuk full 13.300
Aaaaaaaand my tape just ran out. Bugger.
UB Wheeler: Nice Shap. Great tkatchev. Swings well. Stalder on HB. A few form breaks. Straddle up to high (struggles slightly) Goes with double pike dismount (rather than arabian piked), Big hug from Ash. 13.600
UB Bonora 14.450
UB Little: 13.700
UB Mitchell: Stalder, catches Jaeger a little messily. toe on giant full, shoot to low, straddle up to high, toe on, toe half, double front, big step forward but still good. 14.250
It's all done and dusted now, we have to see how England fare on vault to know our fate!
(Liz has just said Lauren's beam routine, despite the fall, still qualifies her to the beam final... in first place thus far!)
England have put up nice Yurchenko fulls so far, they may not be able to catch us!
Aussies on the sideline, giving a big wave... Peggy gets a happy snap...
Results are in...
and...
...by the skin of their teeth...
AUSTRALIA HAS DONE IT! 163.700!
FOUR CONSECUTIVE WOMEN'S TEAM GOLD MEDALS AT
COMONWEALTH GAMES!!!!
YOU BEAUTY!!!
FOUR CONSECUTIVE WOMEN'S TEAM GOLD MEDALS AT
COMONWEALTH GAMES!!!!
YOU BEAUTY!!!
Mitchell and Little sit in 1-2, Bonora 5th in all around standings!
Interview on Foxtel - Ash is poised and articulate. They acknowledge the beam mistakes, but are pleased at the way they pulled together. They're grateful for Peggy's support. Lauren says it's exciting to replicate the men's results; the girls were in training when the MAG results came through but were thrilled to hear the news. Georgia B says it feels "amazing to get the gold in the end." How are they going to celebrate? "We'll probably go to bed early!"
Those of you with complaints about Ten/One's coverage, please please PLEASE make your voices heard and put it in writing a) to the network b) to a publication. I understand it must have been frustrating.
Medal ceremony - the girls are having a ball up on the podium (Ash giving pointers, perhaps?) England are huggy which is nice to see. Apparently Becky Wing has contracted Delhi belly, oh dear! I was really looking forward to seeing her compete. Aussies do a big wave then handshakes down the line. England gracious in defeat. All girls singing along to the anthem (although Gee-Dubya looks a little nervous and self-conscious!). I'm not saying that disparagingly, I'm painting a picture for those who can't see it. Big grin on Ash (and are those tears in the eyes too?). Happy snaps all round, they are soaking up the moment.
112 comments:
sooooooo nervous. Good luck girls!
good luck to the aussies
all the best girls
faaak fall in first routine of night
I am live - from outside of Australia, no Oz Girls as yet, Indian girls Tsuk vaults, now on UB Scotland (started judging routine), some good skills, messy form.
Emily - they said "Oz team off to a shaky start!' Lipton 12.4 on UB
I have BBC coverage - Canada floor, full in tuck open, punch front to double tuck, r.off, flip double twist, (presentation poor) single turn, leg horizontal - double pike finish, change leg, split leap to finish. (may have missed leap series), dance poor form, again.
Lauren FLOOR!fall on layout! looking solid, she looks nervous, relax please! lots of pauses. double pike to land OK.
Emily's score?
total meltdown for Aussies. i'm so disappointed.
just said Ashleigh scored in the 10s, Georgia in the 11s. We could miss the top 24 at worlds and will probably lose tonight.
Oh no, I can't believe they all fell on beam.
Too much pressure! Far out! I had good after footage of Lauren, she looked as though she was about to cry. Just relax and enjoy.
FML Imagine Peggy!?!?
Holy Moon NZ, looks nervous, sparkly leo, HIGH double tuck to start, flip two half, poor form, leaps untidy, lack inner core stability. Needs help with choreography, steps out last tumble. BUT good girl.
I am so disappointed in them. With their experience they should be well past crumbling in Commonwealth Games for gods sake. Just when you feel like they are finding their footing they go and pull this when it counts.
They shouldn't have taken Brennan,she hasn't hit a beam routine in competition all year.
She hit at Worlds Trials. And Peggy wouldnt have put her up if she wasnt capable.
the girls can still do it! good luck! but i do wish we had shona!
CAIRNS, UB - clean bars! hits all HS, swings nicely, double pike to land. Score (Holly Moon 11.4).
Ash has worked her butt off to get to com games! She deserves to be on this team! Not to mention has awesome beam! Go Ash! Keep fighting girls!!!
yes, they can still win but they can't really afford many more falls if any but having that on their first apparatus is a concern.
I am sure Ash has worked hard but I wouldn't really say her beam is awesome at this stage, she hasn't stayed on in a competition this year. I can understand Emily being nervous but the other girls have been to an olympics, with all the noise and distraction in Beijing.
why is georgia bonora doing a level 7 floor routine? a full twist? wtf?
Ankles might be giving her grief again, they are taped.
Emily probably shouldn't be the anchor. If the anchor falls, it makes them ALL nervous.
Channel Ten only showed Lauren's beam routine, they are noe back to swimming.
reply to comment above...
I saw that!! they suck!! they will probably only show her and not the others :( so annoyed! wish I had pay tv!
does anyone know where Martine George is these days? I haven't seen her at a meet for ages.
It sounds like the girls are back on track.
It amuses that Liz sounds so perplexed at Emily's 7.850 e-score. Hello, the girl can't hit full splits.
cmon aussies!!!
I don't think Australia can win from here. England are hitting beam and we have to end on bars, while they have their 2 best events, floor and vault, to come.
Live stream here:
http://www.sportsbun.com/cwg-2010-live-stream-commonwealth-games-2010-online/
Where is Georgina Wheeler?
Georgia W is only competing bars
uk won
Huh? UK won?
(a) There isn't a "UK" team EVER - not even at the Olympics!
(b) There have only been two rotations. There is no winner yet.
SO disappointed in Channel 10. They showed a beautiful floor routine from an Aussie girl (I didn't catch who it was) and I got all excited, thinking we'd start getting the coverage.... but no, "while we're waiting for the next medal presentation we'll discuss some more swimming". DISCUSS? You have Australian women competing in FINALS that you are not showing! All so you can discuss another sport while waiting for a medal presentation! Foxtel must be making a mint from subscriptions here.
Why are they still showing swimming, and not even finals?
I have no idea what that was about so odd, Australia is in the lead after two rotations so they are in a pretty good position really, just can't afford a meltdown on bars.
sounds like Bonora screwed up her yurchenko full, only scored 12.4.
gosh this is like 2007 worlds all over again.
ch10 is very slack indeed! they said about 1hr ago that gym was coming up in 40mins! and all they showed was 2 routines!! so annoying!!
all they keep showing of swimming is the commentators talking! they could show gym inbetween!! grrr haha
Channel 10 sucks so badly.
Heading to the goddamn netball!
Now netball
Australia are winning 58-11, what an exciting game to be watching
where is the gymnastics on ten/one?
What the hell! Netball! And then ads! Chanel 10 you don't deserve the coverage rights.
Still waiting
Seriously, at the risk of being slammed mercilessly, this is a bit of a disgrace. We have sent our current WAG A team. The other competitive countries have not sent their A team. Australia should have won this WAG team event by several points. If they win tonight, it will not be because they're awesome. Let's put this in perspective.
I hope they win, but I am not proud like I have been in the past three Commonwealth Games.
I completely agree. When you have athletes scoring in the 10s it is a disgrace. Frankly, we have no chance in hell of making the team final at worlds, and obviously all this talk of them being in good shape was just bs. Bonora is clearly injured, Brennan is out of shape, Little is getting slammed for her poor execution as expected.
Very disappointed with beam as it probably should be Australia's best apparatus and how did Georgia stuff up a FTY?
you are just negative and should remove yourself from the board if you are not going to support the girls, piss off
The girls don't deserve to win this and I hope they don't. I hope they get silver and realise that it is not acceptable to melt down if you expect results. England are hitting their routines and deserve the gold far more than us tonight.
and as expected the bitching begins. The only disgrace is peoples comments.
a lot of people here invest time and energy following these girls and take the disappointment really hard. I for one am not going to sit here and say 'wow, what a great performance' when it was clearly terrible.
It is pretty difficult to keep positive when athletes of their experience can't even stay on the beam. It sucks.
C'mon - don't pretend you're happy with the standard. It's been disappointing at best. Australia will probably win, but who's their compeition? It just isn't there and this is nothing like 1998, 2002 and 2006. Let's be realistic. Supportive, yes, but realistic.
anon 11:30 PM let me guess your a fat whale of a thing who sits on your arse judging others for competing for their country.
We have fun, funny, spirited and talented girls on this team. But no, they are not among the best in the world yet. And you know what? That's okay. Be cool, people.
Once again...FANTASTICALLY SUPPORTIVE comments from the peanut gallery. All excited as long as something goes well, but heaven forbid that mistakes are made!
It is not a case of deserving, but rather it is a case of working with what you have, putting it out there, taking a look at the results, re-evaluating to see what you get, then going back to the drawing board.
Thankfully NONE of you has to put together our National Team... I would like to see how you would fair.
well said couch gymnast
you don't have to be the best in the world to stay on the beam. Obviously they are not the best in the world, but that's not the point. The point is that they are achieving nowhere near their potential by falling in every routine. That is not acceptable whether you are ranked 1st or 24th in the world.
i think 1 or 2 falls across 12 routines would be ok, but to FALL IN EVERY SINGLE BEAM ROUTINE. come on people, that is absolutely a horrible performance and there is no denying it. You can't blame people for being upset.
is anyone else wondering if Peggy's comment about the girls loving the beam was complete opposite to the truth!?!?
This ch 10/one hd coverage is PATHETIC!!! We should all complain!!!
As I have yet to see all routines or routines from other countries I will refrain from comment
I bet Peggy is disappointed with the routines.
I bet every Aussie coach is disappointed with the routines.
I think the girls will probably win but it's not because they're fantastic - it's simply because there's absolutely no competition here this year.
I hope they get over these nerves before Worlds.
I think why people are so disappointed with the beam performace is because Australia normally does well on it. Lauren, Ashleigh and Georgia B is it just about their best apparatus. As mentioned earlier I now do question the decision to put Emily up first given she is probably not as good on beam as the others. In saying that, you can't blame her for everyone falling. At least floor and three of the four vaults her done well.
That's the thing, I'd rather they shake their nerves out here and now, not save it for Worlds!
Once again...spoken like someone who is obviously working with this level of athletes on a day to day basis.
Of course the only thing that these girls and their coaches do all day long is sit around eating muffins, dreaming up of ways to err and embarrass you!
It is always easy to be critical when you don't have to put yourself on the line every day!
Everything goes in waves, life, energy and yes...even gymnastics!
I love and support the fact that all these girls are putting themselves out there...regardless of the result!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY???
I think the beam falls were more a domino effect than anything else. After your lead off gymnast falls you know you can't fall and that only compounds the nerves. The girls willl need to get over that if they want to qualify for TF at worlds. The girls aren't at their best and I don't think they're expecting to be. Peggy has said that thet're still in full training and that worlds is theultimate goal.
I think the girls will be hard enough on themselves for the mistakes they have made, rather than them needing it constantly pointed out to them. You might be disappointed but imagine how they feel. They are trying their best.
I do wonder about Brennan and Bonora on beam - Ashleigh 10.4 with 2 falls? Even if you add back in the 2.0, she is still only at 12.4, a very low score.
And Bonora, 11.6 IIRC, well adding back in her fall you still would expect her to score higher than 12.6, especially since she was apparently getting over 15 at camp every time. Just weird, it makes me concerned about their real potential to score high on that event at worlds. It will be interesting to see what their SV were.
If the falls occured during a connection series then that could also have lowered the D scores substantially.
Looks like Georgia W watered down her Ub dismount. Smart move to guarantee a decent score and remove the risk of a fall.
They have done well to get over that beam disaster.
I am very dismayed that people can't express disappointment here. These girls are elite athletes. Their fans support them and cheer for them and are perfectly entitled to express disappointment when the routines are disappointing. Why can't supporters be critical?
To the angry poster who has called one poster fat and has asked what achievements another post has, I think you're completely ignorant and hyper sensitive. If the clouds are looking grey, do you pretend the sun is out?
England needs to average 15.5s on vault to over take Aus. I like how the commentators are making out like England could still take it.
Aside from her fall on beam Lauren has done well and she hasn't for a long time so she has done reasonably well. But the fact that she has the highest beam score so far despite a fall just shows the lack of competition at this meet.
I assume Georgia B and Lauren will make bars final, Lauren beam final, Lauren and Ash Floor final. I think it is fairly obviously that Georgia B is having problems with her ankles considering bars was clearly her highest score.
I think it was clear after the second rotation Australia were going to win unless they had a disaster on vault or bars, which they didn't
Anon 12:03, I meant hasn't competed for a long time
I think the girls will be very upset. And I have to say, I am pretty disappointed with how things went as well. I'm sure everyone is.
It just leaves me shaking my head really, because I am surprised that our experienced girls did poorly on beam.
And Bonora - it seems she is nowhere near her best because she looked better at nationals. It sounded like she was doing well at camp though, so I don't know why here it all unravelled so suddenly? I was really hoping she could medal on beam but that chance is gone now.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for worlds but admittedly I am very nervous. Luckily we are starting on vault there.
Apparently AA qualies are
1. Lauren 2.Emily 3.Cairns(England)
well done aussies!
I must say what a great job Imogen Cairns has done to get back to competition. I read that in Oct 2008 she injured both her feet during a floor routine, had surgery on bothe her feet, spent six months on crutches and only returned to training at the beginning of the year.
does anyone know what was wrong with Bonora? Could she be saving herself for worlds if she is having ankle troubles?
Mez! I have actually made a complaint to ch10! i had to do it through the free tv website so I don't know if it will get through/will they care.
Australia television networks have no control over the timeliness of coverage and which athletes are filmed. In events such as Comm games and Olympics they rely on a feed provided by the host nation which is fed to those networks that have paid for rights.
Pre and post interviews provide the Australian network their only opportunity to be parochial. maybe find an Indian gym blog and vent.
I don't think we have any control over what is broadcast, that is down to the host nation, we just buy the rights from them to show it.
Anon at 12.23 it's probably a little bit of both. Her ankles are probably giving her some trouble and so as to be able to compete at worlds she's probably not at full difficulty. That said I think Georgia qualified first for UB.
I noticed Lauren changed the composition of her BB. It's nice to see her not being complacent and still making those little changes.
At this point in time the only spots for worlds TF I would predict are Lauren for VT, BB and FX Larrissa for UB and Emily for VT. Hopefully things will be looking better in a few weeks time.
If Georgia is having trouble with her ankles it makes sense that she performed best on bars.
No disrespect intended but I think discussing world team final line ups might be a bit premature. Even at the best having to go straight from Delhi to worlds will be tough.
GW appeared not to know the words to national anthem.
Poor emily they gave her a different scarf thing in the medal ceremony!! how left out would u feel!! she didn't seem too happy either.. ha..they must of ran out?? :S
I know, the one the other girls got was much nicer. Hopefully she will medal in the AA and get the other scarf.
Brennan's BB execution score was in the 5s - what on earth happened?
Trust GW to get in trouble for 'not knowing the words'.
I think she, along with all the other girls, looked absolutely amazing up on that podium and I could not be more proud!
Maybe Ash fell more than twice, did a second Australian qualify for beam final?
Anon 11.46pm- what a foolish little tirade.
Plenty of people - athletes and other non-sporting individuals put themselves on the line and achieve amazing things (most of them away from the spotlight) every day. Some of their work, saves and transforms lives and is far more important in the big scheme of things, than sport.
The good ones, sporting and non-sporting, understand that if you set yourself up at the highest level of any endeavour you are open to criticism. Particularly if you receive government funding.
Yeah cause looking awesome on the podium is the most important thing. Who cares if you don't know the words to your own national anthem.
Congratulations to the girls for pulling it back and getting the gold. It was great to see Lauren back into competition because it has been a while. Two solid DTY is a start however it'd be nice to have another for worlds next year.
Cautiously optomistic for better performances on Thursday as well as the apparatus finals. Thinking worlds is going to be a MASSIVE challenge though.
Good luck for the rest of the competition.
I don't think she "didn't know them", that's a bit of a stretch.
Yes, another DTY would be great but I don't know who is likely to have won. There are a lot of exciting gymnasts turning senior next year but vault is probably not the strong point for most of them.
one not won
Not a stretch. Highly likely. Just an observation and interpretation which people can choose to agree or disagree with.
Well I for one am super proud of the girls and very very stoked for them. To have won the team gold with a very young and nervous team is a great achievement.
They did their best and in this instance their best was good enough for the gold, and I hope they are proud of those medals. they deserve to be.
I remember back in 2006 when Chloe Sims fell all over the place in TF - this is not such a different circumstance...give the girls a break. It sounds like you all doubt they are working hard in the gym everyday, as if they're not giving their heart and soul to this. Of course they are. They're doing as best they can. Maybe that's not good enough for the armchair critics, but it's good enough for me.
This has also been a terrific test of their mettle for the next month. I feel like they have got their nerves out of their systems now and AA and EF should be much better. And hopefully they will have learnt from this experience and do better at Worlds.
Well done girls, if you're reading, don't listen to those who talk you down, there are people out there who are thrilled with your win and know you did your best and want to give you a pat on the back for it.
Best of luck for AA and EF!
No doubt the girls did well to come back from the beam disaster and I am very happy for them. But come on 'very young and nervous team' three of the girls are olympians.
Well said, Anon at 1:36. They did their best, and overcame a disastrous first rotation to pull it together and take out the gold anyway. Yes, there was no competition at this event, and yes, they stuffed up sometimes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the Aussie girls are a world-class team. I'm very proud of them and they should be very proud of themselves! I look forward to seeing them at Worlds.
Those of you who were upset at 10's coverage like I was, I urge you to follow Mez's advice and actually complain. Do it before the AA and event finals, too. Maybe if enough of us make ourselves heard they'll give us decent coverage of this event.
I join the ranks as someone who is both disappointed and relieved. The Aussie performance on beam was nothing short of a disgrace. Yes, they recovered and good on them for that, but nothing makes up for the beam disaster. Five (or was it six?) falls on beam! My god - this is not a rookie team. I think Peggy's comment sums this up for me: "We just looked at each other in shock after the beam. It was a valuable lesson -- thank God it didn't happen at the world championships".
Yep, thank god! There will be real competition in Rotterdam - the girls won't get away with it there.
Go Aussies!
DTY - isn't Georgia W working towards that? Also from recollections from the Vic HPC open days in the past Britt and Zoe were also working towards DTYs
Of course Georgia Wheeler knows the words to the national anthem.
Yes Wheeler hopefully will have DTY by Tokyo. Ideally we would have 4 for quals, so we need two more after Lauren and Emily.
I think Nikki Chung could have one by then too, she has been doing a good FTY for a while and WAIS is responsible for the DTY trend. In fact, if she keeps improving she is a great chance to make the team because she is best at vault and bars and not so hot on beam and floor where others are great. Perfect fit with someone like Milly McGrath.
I thought Britt was retired? She has been MIA for ages.
I don't think Britt is retired but she has had injury problems. Agreed Nikki Chung could be a good chance to make major teams because she is good at vault/bars and there are not too many that have both those apparatus as their best. Is it unrealistic to expect Georgia to have a DTY next year when her FTY isn't even competition ready this year?
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