Gymmin' Miel!: Australia

2015

LI Qi Won AA Title at AUS vs CHN

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2015

Australia vs China International WAG Friendly

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2015

Update on Lauren Mitchell

The West Australian has published an interview with Australian Olympian Lauren Mitchell as she recovers from LARS surgery. You can read the full interview at:

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/29045477/mitchell-s-olympic-dream-still-alive/ plus check out another interview she did with Seven News last night at: https://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/video/watch/29029338/mitchell-undergoes-surgery-ahead-of-olympics/

In the interview Lauren says:

“I must have had a lot of energy that day because all of my tumbles were really high,” Mitchell said.

“This particular tumble was a little bit too high and my timing was slightly off. I landed on a straight leg and it just went all the way back and sideways.

“But I didn’t think it was an ACL. Usually ACLs swell up straight away ... I could still walk, I could squat, I could straighten my knee.”

Mitchell went for scans that night, but wasn’t overly worried until she got the call with the bad news.

“I was just sitting on my bed and crying,” she said.

“Immediately I thought: ‘I just can’t do this again’.

“I was just thinking back to my shoulder (reconstruction after London in 2012) because that was a really long, slow process and it was tough to come back from.”

But two weeks after surgery, the 2010 floor world champion is determined to do everything in her power to be at a third Olympics.

Mitchell said she wanted to show the results of a new training program she had employed over the past 12 months — results she believes are good enough to make a final in Rio and give her a chance of an elusive Olympic medal.

Mitchell, 24, said the first surgeon she saw had been prepared to do a traditional reconstruction just days after she injured it.

But further consultation with WAIS staff and other surgeons led her to opt for the LARS procedure in the hope of getting back in six to eight months, rather than the 10-12 month lay-off of a traditional reconstruction.

“That was one of the toughest decisions to make,” she said. “Being at the end of my career, thinking about retirement, but then also thinking about my body.

“I wanted to go into next year with no regrets. I think if I went with just the pure hamstring surgery I would probably have the regret of ‘what if’.

“I still might not make it to Rio, but I’m going to give it everything.”

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2014

Australia Names Artistic Gymnastics Teams for CWG

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2014

Australia Announces International Assignments

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2013-2014

Australia Announces WAG National Squads

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2013

Australia Announces MAG Participants at Worlds

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2013

Olympian's Rekindled Love for Gymnastics

Check out the awesome article that was published in The West Australian newspaper on Friday, 7th of June, 2013 about Australian Gymnast Olivia Vivian. Article and image can also be seen at: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/other/17516656/olympians-rekindled-love-for-gymnastics/

When Olivia Vivian went to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as a 19-year-old, she was the oldest woman on the gymnastics team.
Almost five years on and at an age when most gymnasts have long retired, she is far from done with the sport which has consumed close to 16 years of her life. The 23-year-old is an uneven bars specialist and has set her sights on becoming the first Australian woman to win a medal in the event at the world championships in Antwerp in October.
Vivian has been to two previous world titles, but the results she wanted have proved elusive.
Sensing this could be her last hurrah at the highest level, she is preparing to go all out later in the year.
"I have always missed out on finals by the littlest of scores," Vivian said. "I want to make sure there is no room for regret or error or there is no looking back, saying, 'If only I had done this'."
The part-time Zumba instructor said she would almost certainly have given gymnastics away had she not taken up a four-year scholarship at Oregon State University after Beijing.
Vivian originally decided to accept because she couldn't turn down a chance for a fully-funded degree, but her time there also had an unexpected result, reigniting her passion for the sport.
"It really just taught me how to love gymnastics all over again," she said.
"Gymnastically, it taught me how to perfect things and to make things big, and get those landings and get all those extra points that will make a difference in the end.
"I was challenged every day in the gym. I improved my gymnastics by going over there, when originally it had been a plan to wean off gymnastics.
"You get so mentally and physically exhausted and it is kind of a norm here in Australia after an Olympic Games that you move on. If I didn't have that college outlet, I probably would be doing something else."
Fate also intervened to prolong her career last year.
Vivian's mum, Gillian, had planned a trip to visit the US and watch the final college competitions of the year. But when she had to cancel at the last minute, Vivian decided to return to Perth to surprise her family.
The trip home coincided with the Australian Olympic trials. Vivian's decision to "have a crack" saw her win the uneven bars.
She fell just short of winning a spot on the team for London and was named as the reserve.
"Winning bars was a surprise but that is kind of what sparked my thought of, 'hey if I can podium here in Australia, I want to take that podium finish to international level for Australia'," she said.
Tragedy has also played a role in Vivian's return to Perth to pursue her sporting dreams.
Her 64-year-old father, Craig, lost his battle with a melanoma in February. Vivian had already been determined to qualify for the world titles, but losing her dad had added fuel to the fire.
"At first gymnastics helped as a coping mechanism, coming in here and keeping me busy," she said.
Vivian is currently completing an intensive 10-week block of training prior to nationals in July.
Gymnastics has come under the winning edge program and the bar has been raised on standards, meaning only those who are medal chances will be taken to Antwerp.
Vivian, who will turn 24 during trials, said she was planning a high-risk, high-reward routine.
And if things go as well as she hopes, her name could be immortalised in gymnastics.
"There is a skill that we are trying to learn in the gym and if I do complete it at world championships I will be the first to do it and it will be called the Vivian," she revealed. "That would be pretty awesome."