Gymnastics is one of the most popular events on the Olympic program, and Australia’s budding young stars are eager to show they have what it takes on the world stage.

Winning Australia’s first ever artistic gymnastics medal is the ultimate goal, but gaining selection to the Team is the first big hurdle for athletes to overcome.

From 22 May – 2 June, the 2012 Australian Gymnastics Championships will be held in Sydney – a two-week festival of gymnastics covering all Olympic disciplines.

All eyes will be on the men’s and women’s artistic sessions, as athletes vie for the select few Olympic spots on offer.

After failing to qualify a full team contingent for London, Australia’s male gymnasts have just one all-around quota place to fill. With two talented young gymnasts in Thomas Pichler and Joshua Jefferis fighting for the spot, it will be an exciting race to see who secures a ticket for London.

“We both train together at the QAS High Performance Centre in Chandler,” Pichler said.

“It would be better to not be in this position,” the 25-year-old said of challenging his teammate for the one spot on offer. “Ideally we would have liked to both go in the Team, but that’s not possible.

“We’ve competed against each other in the past though so we know what to expect. We don’t do too much different. We both just do our own thing in training and will go to Sydney to win.”

Pichler’s favoured apparatus is the floor and Jefferis shows most talent on the rings – but whoever is selected will need to compete on all six apparatus as an all-around gymnast.

“It's going to be a dream come true for whoever makes it out of the two of us,” 26-year-old Jefferis said. “I'm really looking forward to just trying to get on that Team.”

Both Jefferis and Pichler competed at the London Test Event earlier this year and are big fans of North Greenwich Arena where one of them will be in the spotlight this July. 

“The Test event was an amazing experience,” Jefferis said. “They really did a fantastic job. The arena is amazing and the seating is amazing and it was well organised so I'm really looking forward to competition.”

With the public eye on Lauren Mitchell in the women’s events to win Australia’s first artistic medal, the pressure is off the boys to reach the podium but is not unrealistic.

“My focus is on reaching the all-around final,” Pichler said. “In gymnastics, it’s all about making the final. Once you are in there, with all the pressure – anything can happen.”

Mitchell and the other women’s artistic squad members will also compete at the Sydney event to secure one of the five team places up for grabs. With a depth of talent unseen in women’s artistic gymnastics in Australia to date, it is sure to be a tight tussle for the final five. The recent announcement of the return of 2008 Beijing Olympian Daria Joura is sure to be an exciting addition to the line-up.

Alice Wheeler
Australian Olympic Committee