Silver for Downie at Cottbus Cup
12.04.08
Becky Downie, Becky Wing, and Laura Jones are in Germany for the Cottbus Cup this weekend. Yesterday, Becky Downie qualified to bars final after placing 7th with a 14.025. Heathrow gymnast, Becky Wing, placed 22nd on bars with a fall, 17th on balance beam with a 14.025, and 10th on floor exercise with a 13.55. Laura Jones of Notts placed 17th on vault, 14th on balance beam with a 14.1, and 22nd on floor exercise with 2 falls.

Today during the finals, Becky Downie scored 14.975 (6.7 A-Score) and won a silver medal behind China's He Kexin (16.850). Good job Becky!

External Link: Turnier der Meister

Seniors Finished 6th; Silver for Beth
06.04.08
Like the junior team, the GB senior team placed 6th as well last Saturday at the European Championships. All girls showed very impressive scores on bars and vault. Beth Tweddle did her new release again, the "Tweddle" with an F value.

Today during the event finals, Becky Downie placed 8th on vault and bars with a 13.5 and 14.7 respectively. Beth Beth Tweddle placed 4th on bars with a 15.475. On the floor exercise, Beth did really well, placing 2nd with a new career-high 15.525 (6.4 A-Score)!

Some of the girls on the team have been struggling with the flu since the first day of the competition. Get well soon!

Three videos from the team finals have been posted on YouTube.Com. Please check below for links.

Beth Tweddle AB: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bewpIKdrCdA
Marissa King FX: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FdgTChtfZJg
Becky Downie BB: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ye7no6OOJDs

Full Results: Senior Results

Juniors Placed 6th; Hibbert qualified to Two finals
06.04.08
Last Friday evening in Clermont-Ferrand, France, the GB junior team placed 6th during the team competition. They started on balance beam where Jennifer Pinches was first up and she did a solid routine scoring 14.275. The next three gymnasts, Nicole Hibbert, Niamh Rippin, and Danusia Francis, fell. On the floor exercise, Niamh Rippin showed an excellent routine with a 14.1. Hibbert did as well scoring 14.3. On the next event, vault, three gymnasts did Yurchenko fulls. On the last rotation, bars, Jennifer scored a 14.3 with a clean routine. Both Danusia and Niamh scored 14.15 and Nicole scored 14.1.

Jennifer Pinches of the Liverpool placed 8th overall with a 56.375. She was the third reserve for bars and first reserve for floor. Nicole Hibbert placed 23rd in the all-around and made to two finals on vault and floor exercise. Nicole's club team mate placed 17th and Nott's Niamh Rippin placed 15th.

Today was the apparatus finals where Nicole placed 4th on vault scoring 13.875. She then placed 5th on floor exercise with a 14.325!

Full Results: Junior Results

Seniors 5th After Prelims
2.04.08
The GB senior team - Beth Tweddle, Becky Downie, Hannah Clowes, Laura Jones, and Marissa King placed 5th today at the European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The top 8 teams will qualify to the team finals on Saturday, April 5.

Beth Tweddle received her new career-high score on floor exercise with a 15.475 (6.4 A-Score). She also did her new release on bars (toe-on with tkatchev with half turn connects with a bar change) for a 15.925 (7.0 A-Score). Beth qualified to both event finals after placing 1st on bars and 2nd on floor exercise. Becky Downie qualified to vault and bars event finals. She placed 6th on vault with a 14.275 and 4th on bars with a 15.425. Both Marissa King and Laura Jones is the second reserve for vault and balance beam respectively.

The GB junior team - Nicole Hibbert, Danusia Francis, Niamh Rippin, Jennifer Pinches, and Jordan Lipton will compete tomorrow. Good luck girls!

Full Results: Senior Prelims

Nicola Willis Interview
12.03.08
Nicola Willis was part of the 2004 Olympics Team and helped the GB team to place 5th at the 2004 European Championships. She placed 3rd AA at the 2004 British Championships and 4th in 2003. Nicola was also a member of British Team that was runner-up at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she placed 6th AA and 8th on beam. Nicola decided to move to the United States to compete for University of Florida, where she now is a senior. We interviewed Nicola to chat about her experiences at Florida!
Read the Interview

GBR vs France
15.03.08
Today at the Blackpool, the France senior team defeated Great Britain, 229.300-227.500. Becky Downie of Notts placed 2nd in the all-around right behind France's Pauline Morel. She had very impressive scores on vault (14.950) and beam (15.400). Downie's team mate Laura Jones placed 3rd. Marissa King scored a 14.650 on vault and placed 8th overall. Some other GB senior team placements are Hannah Whelan (5th), Hannah Clowes (7th), Melanie Roberts (10th), Rebecca Wing (11th), Hannah Freeman (12th), and Kayleigh Cooke (13th).

Danusia Francis, Heathrow, placed 2nd in the all-around behind France's Youna Dufournet in the junior competition. Francis was solid on all four events and helped lead the GB team to win the dual meet against France, 219.650-216.050. Liverpool's Jennifer Pinches grabbed the bronze medal while Niamh Rippin, Nicole Hibbert, and Jordan Lipton placed in top six. Some other GB junior team placements are Katie Moffatt (11th), Sydney Elliot-Money (3 events), and Jocelyn Hunt (3 events).

Full Results: Senior | Junior

Hannah Whelan Diary
12.03.08
Hannah traveled to Doha last week for the World Cup. She qualified to two event finals; balance beam and floor exercise. During the finals, Hannah placed 8th on both events. Hannah has written us a diary all about her experience competing at the World Cup. Be sure to check it out! Hannah's Diary

BRITAIN WIN AGAINST CZECH AT LILESHALL
03.03.08
The 1st and 2nd of March saw the first international meet of the year for the British team. Lilleshall National Sports Centre played host to the friendly competition against a team from the Czech Republic and welcomed 2 visiting athletes from Israel.

With Key competitors sitting on the sidelines the British Team of Becky Downie, Hannah Clowes, Marissa King, Becky Wing and Hannah Whelan took to the floor. Although not all competitors were performing competed full difficulty routines, consistent performances across all four pieces led the GB girls to the team gold (225.4 – 217.850). Other British gymnasts also competed projecting their potential for selection for the upcoming European championship team. Notably Laura Jones performed strongly on floor and bars, whilst veteran Mel Roberts proved she is not a force to be forgotten. Becky Downie was the top scoring Brit despite watered down routines and claimed the AA silver behind Kristyna Palesova whilst Hannah Clowes came in 3rd.

In event finals the British team selected performers that perhaps required more experience rather than the highest scorers, this gave Kayleigh Cooke a second chance which she capitalised on; claiming gold on both Beam and floor. Kristyna Palesova claimed gold on bars and Becky Downie proved her strength on vault finishing first with Marissa King close behind.
The weekend was very successful for the British girls, and gives a promising indication of how they can perform come Europeans and Bejing.