Five softly-spoken, yet confident, young women are ready for the tough challenge of competing in rhythmic gymnastics at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games this August in Singapore.

Soriah MacLean, Fotini Panselinos, Morgan Turner and Summer Walker of Sydney will compete in the group event and Taylor Tirahardjo from Melbourne will contest the individual All-Around, against the top young rhythmic gymnasts in the world.

Tirahardjo confirmed her selection with another strong performance in the Junior International All-Around event at the National Championships in Perth on the weekend.

“I’m really happy with my clean routines at Nationals and I feel like I’m on track for Singapore,” Tirahardjo said.

The 15-year-old has already competed in events all around the world but never a large multi-sport event with thousands of competitors and “can’t wait to experience the Village and meet new friends”.

She will be one of 18 gymnasts competing in the Individual All-Around in Singapore. The scores from the rope, hoop, ball and clubs are combined with the top eight to contest the final.

“I really enjoy the ball and I hate the rope but my scores are pretty similar for all of them.”

In the Group All-Around athletes leap, bound, tumble and throw the hoop and then the ribbon around their bodies with the added difficulty of remaining in unison with their teammates.

“Group is hard because in the individual competition if you make a mistake you can cover it yourself but with group if someone makes a mistake you have to cover them,” Walker said.

The 15-year-old rates visual contact with her teammates as the number one skill when performing as a group.

“The most important thing is to watch each other,” Walker said, “as you get timing deductions if you are not all in unison.”

The Davidson High School student trains 30 hours a week over six days and says this will increase to seven days closer to the Games.

“It is a lot of hard work but you work with everyone around you to get there,” she said.

Walker first started participating in rhythmic gymnastics when she was seven. It was an after school activity which she did with friends.

“Most of my friends were doing the sport after school for a bit of fun. That was how I met my coach, who started me in the lower levels before noticing I had some talent.

“I moved into the elite levels and have been competing in individuals for a couple of years. Group came along and it was such a good opportunity I decided to move into it,” she said.

Walker is thrilled to represent Australia at the Youth Olympics and with her teammates will be proudly wearing a uniform made especially for them.

“A wonderful parent has made the uniforms for us,” she said. “The leotards are made out of a stretchy moveable material and are usually quite expensive as they are covered in diamantes.”

Six groups of four in the group all-around will battle it out in the qualification round for one of four spots in the group final. All four gymnasts use the same apparatus in each exercise.

Rhythmic gymnastics is taking place on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 August at the Bishan Sports Hall, which is located just outside of the Singapore central business district. The medals are decided on the Wednesday which is where the Australian girls
want to be.

Andrew Reid
AOC