ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS: Aussie Gymnast Clay Stephens took to the apparatus this afternoon in his qualification round for the Artistic Gymnastic.
The 17-year-old admitted that there were a few areas of his performance were things weren’t quite coming together, but that didn’t stop the South Australian from putting together some impressive moments as he rotated through each apparatus.
“It started off a little shaky on pommel, then I put it back together for the rings and got an ok score, it’s not one of my best apparatus so it wasn’t a massive score but something I could work with,” he said.
“After that was vault, which is one of my favourites, I did two really good vaults. I’ll have to wait until the next qualifying round but hopefully that qualifies me for the final.”
The Artistic Gymnastics consists of 5 separate apparatus. Pommel Horse, floor, parallel bars, rings, horizontal bars and vault.
After qualifications, athletes may qualify for the all-round final or apparatus final.
Though Stephens may not have got all the results he wanted in the qualifier to give him a birth to the all-round final, there’s still a real chance he’ll progress to the final of the vault.
Stephens will have to wait until the second qualifying round this evening to find out whether he will contest for a medal in the vault.
Regardless of how the result turns out, Stephens is content with what he’s been able to display at his biggest competition to date.
“I went out there, tried my best and pulled out some good routines. I can leave the stadium knowing I put it all out there,” the teen said.
“I was looking to come in and put up some scores that were up there with my best and then see what happens.”
With the YOG being such a big learning experience, some things are quite new to these young athletes.
“The atmosphere was great, it’s the best stadium I’ve ever competed in. The crowd was loud and proud and it was good to have the cameras around me," Stephens concluded.
Sam Rawlings
Olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam