Six Queensland gymnasts have been selected to represent Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, following stellar performances at the artistic gymnastics trials held in Canberra recently.
Gymnastics Queensland CEO Kym Dowdell said Queenslanders would make up 60 per cent of the national Mens Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) and Womens Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) teams, which will compete on the international stage in April.
Brisbane-based gymnasts Rianna Mizzen, Georgia Godwin and Georgia-Rose Brown were all named as WAG representatives, joining MAG competitors and fellow Queenslanders Michael Mercieca, Michael Tone and Mitchell Morgans on the Australian team.
“These talented gymnasts spend countless hours training each week, so to have the opportunity to represent their country at the Commonwealth Games is a dream come true,” Ms Dowdell said.
“Many of them have already had the honour of competing at the World Championships, so they’re well-placed to showcase their skills on the Gold Coast next month.”
Ms Dowdell said both Rianna and Georgia-Rose had been training at the Gymnastics Queensland High Performance Centre under the guidance of master coaches Misha Barabach and Tao XiaoMin in the lead-up to the trials.
“Rianna was named WAG All Around National Champion in 2016, took out the title of Uneven Bars Champion in both 2016 and 2017, won numerous World Cup medals on bars in 2017, and performed well at the Commonwealth Games trials, so she really has gone from strength to strength in recent years,” Ms Dowdell said.
“Georgia-Rose is no stranger to the competition stage either, having competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and taken out a silver medal as part of team events.”
“In addition, last year, Georgia Godwin – who is coached by master coaches Sasha and Olga Beloussov – achieved the best World Championships all around final placing of any Australian since 2011, highlighting her prowess in the sport.”
“This is the first time in many years that Queenslanders have made up 60 per cent of the Commonwealth Games artistic gymnastics team, so we are over the moon to have such a strong representation.”
Ms Dowdell also congratulated the three MAG athletes selected, who all delivered strong routines at the trials in Canberra under the guidance of master coach Sean Wilson.
“Mike Mercieca was the highest placing all around athlete on both days of the trial and Michael Tone performed very well on both the pommel horse and parallel bars,” she said.
“Mitchell Morgans – who currently trains at the National Centre of Excellence in Canberra – showed his strength on rings, parallel bars and the horizontal bar and is hopeful of taking out a place on the podium this April.”
“We’re also thrilled to see gymnast Danielle Prince – who trained in and competed for Queensland until recently moving interstate – was also successful in making the Commonwealth Games rhythmic gymnastics team.”
“We wish all of these gymnasts the very best of luck and know that they will do Australia proud.”
Gymnastics Queensland is a not-for-profit sporting body with headquarters in Brisbane. Overseeing more than 120 gymnastics clubs across Queensland, the organisation delivers club development and support and hosts regular gymnastics events. With a focus on education and training, Gymnastics Queensland also offers coaching accreditation and athlete development.
To find out more, please visit www.gymqld.org.au or call (07) 3036 5600.
