Gymnasts impress on the world stage
ACROBATIC GYMNASTS Abby Mulligan and Mair Williams returned from the tenth F.I.G. acrobatic gymnastics age group event in Antwerp, Belgium, with an overall score of 51.000 in the women’s pair 11-16 category, scoring 25.350 in their balance routine and 25.650 in their dynamic routine.
The pair had trained in Dublin with the new national coach, Victoria Pattison, prior to their departure, and travelled with their coach Aoife Harnett (elite coach, Gymstars), Sally Johnston (head of delegation), and Jackie O’Herlihy (international judge).
The first day of competition was balance, and in a routine based around ‘The Show Must Go On’ from the musical Moulin Rouge, the pair put on a performance that showed their strength and grace to a world audience, but two minor errors cost them one mark.
Day two of the competition was their tempo routine based around the themes of happiness and sadness, set to an Asian theme. This is usually their weaker routine but the pair took the positives from the previous day’s performance and produced a superb display that allowed them to improve their final country ranking position to 18th.
The competition was won by the reigning European champions from Britain, Sasha Carpenter and Poppy Yates, with a tempo routine that displayed strength, grace and agility set to a Marilyn Manson soundtrack. Silver was won by Belgium and bronze by Portugal.
Commenting on the performance, C.E.O. of Gymnastics Ireland, Ciarán Gallagher, said: ‘Congratulations to gymnasts Abby and Mair in addition to their coach, Aoife, on their performance at the 2018 acrobatics world age group championships in what was a top level field.
‘The experience of competing in this world event will no doubt assist the girls in their development and training for their next major competitive target.’
Both athletes were happy with their first appearance on the global stage, and recognise the work needed to improve their ranking against the best in the world.
Their attention has turned to moving up to the next more challenging age category, 12-18. This category requires more difficulty so the work for the European championships in Israel in October, 2019, will commence after the upcoming national finals.