It was a good day for City of Liverpool Gymnastics at the Echo Arena.
Hannah Whelan stormed easily to her second straight national title with an internationally respectable score of 56.350. She finished 3 points clear of silver medallist
Danushia Francis. Fellow Liverpool gymnast
Jenny Pinches took bronze despite falling on both bars and beam.
Whelan followed the Nastia Liukin/Bridget Sloan approach and led the way in BRIGHT pink. Her performances were both clean and stylish, setting her up well for a good all around placement in Tokyo later in the year. World Champ
Beth Tweddle competed strong but not faultless performances on 2 events , missing her first handstand on bars and slightly overcooking her first floor landing, but plenty good enough for GB's leading lady.
Commonwealth gold medallist
Imogen Cairns put out a good performance on 3 events, being the only big name other than Whelan to stay on the balance beam (!) and hitting her 2 vaults with ease.
Youngsters from the Commonwealth England team
Jocelyn Hunt and
Charlotte Lindsey also performed well finishing 4th and 5th respectively and made a bid to be included on team GB this October. Scotlands
Amy Regan was her usual delightful self on floor.
If I had one concern for the GB girls it would definitely be the lack of consistency. 2 or 3 falls on beam and an under-par day from Tweddle or Whelan could spell disaster for their dreams of qualifying a full team to London 2012. Where's Martha Karolyi when you need her?!In the Junior event it was more good news for Liverpool with
Rebecca Tunney taking gold ahead of
Gabrielle Jupp and
Abi Caig.
There seems to be a relaxed atmosphere in the GB camp. Despite having the event finals tomorrow most of the gymnasts decamped to Pizza Express after the event!
Results -
Senior ---
Junior.
Quotes from the Senior & Junior medallists (from British Gymnastics)
Hannah Whelan -
“I’m really pleased with today’s performance, there is still a few harder skills I'm working on but they weren’t quite ready for today’s competition. The atmosphere was really great in the arena and everybody was cheering each other on. To be crowned British Champion again is a huge houour for me - especially in Liverpool with such great support.”Danusia Francis -
“I was slightly annoyed more than anything when I fell on beam but I tried to shake it all off and get back from there so I’m really pleased. I’ve got a new floor routine which has quite a lot in it so I found it quite hard stamina wise but was happy to finish with the music!”Jenni Pinches -
"My competition went well. I fell on bars and beam but the rest of my routines went quite well. The last two British Championships haven’t gone great for me due to injury and a bit of disaster on vault, so I’m pleased with today for various reasons. The podiums felt strange; it didn’t feel like the British but in a good way! It will definitely be great experience for the younger gymnasts tomorrow."Rebecca Tunney-
‘I wasn’t expecting the win at all today so I’m really pleased. I’ve competed on podiums before and always find it such great experience and it was great having the support of my club here in its hometown. All the younger gymnasts from my club were able to watch and were cheering me on it was great. I'm looking forward to watching the senior competition this afternoon and will be cheering on my team mates Hannah, Beth and Jenni.’Gabrielle Jupp-
‘I was really pleased with how I performed today but probably a bit disappointed with my bars, but I have the European Youth Olympic Festival coming up soon and I'm hoping to hit 54.000 again and put in another good performance. I’m looking forward to relaxing and watching all of the Seniors compete later.’Abi Caig-
‘I'm really pleased with my performance today, especially that I managed to make bars final which is a big achievement for me. I've always wanted to compete on podiums and now I've done it, in front of my home crowd as well!’
