Nine Australian gymnasts will be on debut at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as the reinvigorated team looks to recapture its dominance in the floor, vault, beam, and bars disciplines.
The nine rookies will be joined by four Commonwealth Games alumni, rounding out the 13-strong squad.
Among those returning are Gold Coast 2018 individual all-around silver medalists Georgia Godwin, 24, and vault bronze medalist Emily Whitehead, 22. The pair were also part of the bronze medal-winning all-around team at the Gold Coast Games.
Debutantes Romi Brown, 19, Kate McDonald, 21, and Breanna Scott, 20, complete the Australian women’s artistic gymnastics team.
During 2022 Commonwealth Games Australia Gymnastics Team Announcement Media Day on June 20, 2022, at Waverley Gymnastics Centre in Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. (Photo by Con Chronis for Commonwealth Games Aust)
For Victorian-based Emily Whitehead, making the team is a significant achievement after battling a series of devasting injuries following the 2018 Games. She said it makes her selection all the more special.
“One thing I have learnt since COVID is to stop and appreciate each moment a little more,” she said.
“It is an honour to wear the green and gold and I am going to enjoy every moment of representing my country again.”
Gold Coast bronze medalist Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, 20 will make her second Commonwealth Games appearance in Rhythmic Gymnastics alongside Ashari Gill, 19, and the youngest member of the team, Lidiia Iakovleva, 18. The trio will be looking to win Australia’s first gold medal in the Rhythmic Team competition since the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The only returning Commonwealth Games Team Member in the men’s artistic team is Queenslander Mitchell Morgans, 29. He will compete alongside Games newcomers Tyson Bull, 29, Christopher (James) Bacueti, 27, Clay Mason Stephens, 25, and Jesse Moore, 19.
Bull made Australian gymnastics history at the Tokyo Olympics when the Victorian became the first Australian to make an Olympic men’s artistic gymnastics final when he finished fifth in the horizontal bar discipline.
First-time Commonwealth Games Team Member and the youngest of the Men’s Artistic gymnasts, Jesse Moore from South Australia is excited to be heading to Birmingham, and the teenager can’t wait to don the green and gold.
“It’s always special representing Australia and such a privilege to compete for this amazing country,” Moore said.
Australian Gymnastics Team – Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games:
NAME
EVENT
AGE
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
STATE
Romi Brown
Women’s Artistic
19
Debut
VIC
Georgia Godwin
Women’s Artistic
24
2nd Games (2018 – Silver: Individual
All-Around, Bronze: Team Competition, Individual Uneven Bars)
QLD
Kate McDonald
Women’s Artistic
21
Debut
VIC
Breanna Scott
Women’s Artistic
20
Debut
NSW
Emily Whitehead
Women’s Artistic
21
2nd Games (2018 – Bronze:
Team Competition, Individual Vault)
VIC
James Bacueti
Men’s Artistic
27
Debut
ACT
Tyson Bull
Men’s Artistic
29
Debut
VIC
Clay Mason Stephens
Men’s Artistic
25
Debut
SA
Jesse Moore
Men’s Artistic
19
Debut
SA
Mitchell Morgans
Men’s Artistic
29
2nd Games (2018 – 5th: Team Competition)
QLD
Ashari Gill
Rhythmic Gymnastics
19
Debut
VIC
Lidiia Iakovleva
Rhythmic Gymnastics
18
Debut
QLD
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva
Rhythmic Gymnastics
20
2nd Games (2018 – Bronze:
Team All-Around, Individual Ball)
VIC
Synonymous with strength, grace, and style, artistic gymnastics includes some of the most anticipated events on the program of any multi-sport competition, with athletes leaping, twirling, and flying across a range of iconic apparatus, earning points from a panel of judges and amazement from spectators.
Artistic gymnastics made its Commonwealth Games debut in Edmonton in 1978. It did not reappear until 12 years later in Auckland and has been held at every game since. England will be looking to retain their top-of-the-table ranking for the third consecutive Game.
In this combination of gymnastics and ballet, rhythmic gymnastics competitors perform graceful routines choreographed to music while working with different types of hand-held apparatus. Harmony between the gymnast, the apparatus, and the music are the elements of a high score. During the exercise, the apparatus must be used with both hands and be in constant motion.
Canada has dominated rhythmic gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games, winning over half the gold medals since the sport made its debut in Auckland in 1990.
Commonwealth Games gymnastics (all disciplines) medals summary by nation:
NATION
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
TOTAL
Canada
57
47
38
142
Australia
47
43
49
139
England
34
35
29
98
Cyprus
10
2
7
19
Malaysia
3
10
12
25
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held from Thursday 28 July to Monday 8 August. The Artistic Gymnastics events take place from Friday 29 July to Tuesday 2 August. The Rhythmic Gymnastics events take place from Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 August. The Gymnastics competitions will be held at Arena Birmingham.
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