As the British women’s gymnastics team look to push and continue their progression after last year’s surprise Olympic team bronze medal in Tokyo, England gave an encouraging display of their depth as they dominated the Commonwealth Games to win gold in the team final on Saturday night. .
England had won the women’s team title in 2010 and 2014 before being usurped by a strong Canadian side on the Gold Coast. But the reigning champions not having their best gymnasts, the English team started out as the clear favourites. Like the triumphant men’s team a day earlier, their success is even more notable for the solid performance of the gymnasts, finishing first on all four apparatus without a fall.
The anchor of the team was Alice Kinsella, the only member of Britain’s 2020 Olympic bronze medal winning squad. Something of a veteran even at 21 and the backbone of the team, Kinsella demonstrated her growing consistency by qualifying first on balance beam, where she won a gold medal in 2018, with a score of 13.45. She also performed by far the best floor routine of the day to qualify for first place in the all around competition. Australia won silver and Canada bronze.
Georgia Mae Fenton, who was not chosen for the Olympics despite having competed in the previous three world championships, stood out. A 2018 uneven bars gold medalist, she qualified first on the apparatus after finishing a flawless routine with a blocked landing, scoring 14,000 on her favorite event. She followed it up with a rock-solid balance beam performance.
England also had a talented 18-year-old making his international debut in Ondine Achampong, who showed both his potential and his ability to improve. She qualified for second place on the uneven bars with the toughest routine of the day, then slammed the door with a supreme double-twisting Yurchenko vault to end the English competition.
Claudia Fragapane rose to prominence winning four gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but in Birmingham 2022 she competed internationally for the first time since retiring from the world championships last year after a foot injury.
Sign up for The Recap, our weekly editors’ picks email.
She marked her return to competition with a tough performance on balance beam, where she barely held onto the balance beam. But as she moved across the floor, despite the toning down of her difficulty, she soared and cried as she dismounted, absorbing the crowd’s long applause.
theguardian Gt