GYMNASTICS:
GYMNASTICS: Australia's Danielle Prince has performed strongly at the 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, a stepping stone on the road to qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Behind all the glitz and glamour, the athletes at the Championships are on a quest to secure a coveted spot at next year's Olympics.
Australia is aiming to qualify one individual athlete for Rio and this competition is the first step on that journey. The top fifteen ranked gymnasts at the Championships will qualify a quota spot for their country. For the other athletes the next step will be the Rio Test Event in April, 2016, where another nine athletes will directly qualify for the Games.
Australia’s sole representative at the event in Germany, Queenslander Danni Prince finished 78 out of 143 competitors in the individual competition overall, with a total of 42.725 across the four apparatus.
Kicking off her campaign in the hoop with a difficulty of 6.275, Prince scored 13.975 in the hoop apparatus to place 69th.
In a sport traditionally dominated by Eastern Europe, Russia’s Margarita Mamun claimed gold.
Mamun, who made a surprising mistake during Monday's qualification round, quickly erased doubts about her ability to perform under pressure. Faced with the challenge of 17-year-old teammate Aleksandra Soldatova, Mamun delivered an exceptional Hoop routine in finals to win her sixth World gold and her first World title with the apparatus, scoring 18.950 points.
On day two, Prince, a dual Commonwealth Games competitor, took to the floor to complete her ball routine.
In an event claimed by Russia’s Yana Kudryavteva, Prince managed to score 12.900.
Kudryavtseva, the undisputed queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics for the past two years, continued the domination she showed at the 2013 and 2014 Worlds. In spite of a slight mishap on a catch with the Ball, the judges awarded her the highest note of the evening on either apparatus, 19.025 points.
In day three in the clubs routine, the Australian recovered a few places on the leaderboard with a fantastic display of colour to come home with 14.200.
Russia again cemented its position as this year's dominant country claiming gold and silver in the ribbons, with Kudryavtseva scoring first position with 18.866 and Mamun second with 18.850.
With the Clubs, Kudryavtseva was nearly flawless, scoring 19.066 points to take her third consecutive World title with the apparatus.
As the last competitor to perform with the Ribbon half an hour later, Kudryavtseva appeared to improvise slightly at the end of her routine after failing to catch the Ribbon’s wand on a throw. Her score, 18.866, was still enough to edge her teammate and best friend Margarita Mamun (18.850), the defending World champion with the Ribbon.
"Of course I make mistakes," Kudryavtseva told the press afterward, noting that a nagging leg injury has kept her from training until a few days before the competition. "I was not too sure of my exercises, so I tried to use my head."
Prince managed a respectable 14.200 to finish the ribbons in 98th position.
She'll now look ahead to the next qualifying events, including the Rio Test Event.
olympics.com.au and FIG
