Games joy for Cara
Paisley gymnast thrilled with her performance
Paisley gymnast Cara Kennedy has hailed her Commonwealth Games experience as a resounding success.
Kennedy, who was competing at her second Games, having previously featured for Scotland at Glasgow 2014, was in stunning form as she qualified for both the women’s artistic finals.
Impressive displays in the team event led Scotland to a fifth place finish, while her individual efforts booked her spot in the latter stages.
She would go on to finish seventh in the vault final, just one point short of the eventual gold medallist.
Her vault of one and a half twists saw a little hop to the side on landing, but it was an efficient effort of 5.000 difficulty earning a total of 13.833.
Kennedy then produced a 4.800 difficulty for her second run and again, she executed it well.
But it only earned 13.300 for an average of 13.566, which had her sitting marginally behind her teammate Shannon Archer in fourth at the halfway point.
In the end, she would finish seventh, with Kennedy delighted with her showing at the Games after months of battling injury and rehab just to make the trip in the first place.
She said: “The vault final was definitely the most challenging competition I have ever done.
“It was a brand new experience for me, but I’m so glad I landed both my vaults and scored a personal best.
“To finish fifth with the team, seventh on vault and ninth all-around was more than I could have dreamed of four years ago after the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
“I’m very happy to say that all the blood, sweat, tears, operations and rehab after rehab has paid off massively, making the last couple of weeks so worthwhile.
“I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, but especially my coach Sandra and my family who have been by my side since the day I first walked into a gym.
“I hope to post some videos of my routines once I get back to Scotland, but, for now, it’s time to enjoy my last week in Australia.” Kennedy celebrates her success Down Under