17 year-old gymnast Emma Slevin finished 19th in the Women’s All-Around European Final nailing a clean competition and improving on her ranking from qualifications. Emma scored 12.300 on Floor; 13.233 on Vault; 12.400 on Uneven Bars & 11.900 on the Balance Beam giving her an All-Around total of 49.833 as Irelands first senior All-Around European finalist.
Speaking to RTE after her performance Emma said:
‘I’m absolutely delighted with that performance as well as qualification. Qualifying in 22nd position and finishing in 19th position after today is something I’m really, really proud of. Overall, I am just delighted with that performance. Being with the best gymnasts in the world, overall it is just an amazing experience. Seeing how the top athletes work – it is very inspiring to say I competed alongside them. I know what I need to work on when I go back to my gym, obviously there are improvements still that I can make, and it is just very, very motivating to know that I am in with the best in Europe. It was enjoyable out there – I thought nerves would take over but it was honestly very, very enjoyable for me!
The support has been phenomenal. I would like to thank everyone for supporting me, for any gymnast coming up who is hoping to make a difference in gymnastics in Ireland just stay focused, stay motivated, do what you can. One thing for me is self-confidence, it is a gamechanger for me and I think I have discovered a lot of self-confidence this year and that has just helped me phenomenally as you can see from my results.’
Speaking of the results, Mr Ciaran Gallagher, CEO of Gymnastics Ireland said:
‘To have an Irish woman in the European All-Around Final and for it to be aired live on RTE meant today really was great day for our sport. Emma’s quality performance as one of Europe’s best is a superb achievement for her personally but also gives all the young gymnasts following in her footsteps & who she trains along-side in our national squad programme a great role model to follow! On behalf of all at Gymnastics Ireland huge congratulations to Emma and her support team including coach Sally Batley & Renmore Gymnastics Club, our Performance & Technical Manager Sally Johnson and physio Julianne Ryan. We now look forward to Adam Steele stepping out into the Men’s All-Around Final which will be on RTE player @ 4pm today!’
Next up is Adam Steele in the Men’s All-Around Final this afternoon from 4.00 – 7.00pm Irish time which will be shown on RTÉ Player. Steele who had an excellent competition yesterday competing on all 6 of the men’s apparatus and finished in 20th position with a score of 79.731. In doing so he also made history by securing Ireland’s first place in a senior men’s All-Around Top 24 European Final.
Tomorrow, Saturday, will see Rhys McClenaghan, 2018 European Champion and 2019 World bronze medallist on Pommel Horse and who qualified in 1st position with a score of 14.766 compete in the Pommel Horse final. McClenaghan, who has his eyes firmly fixed on Tokyo 2021, will compete in the final on Saturday 24th April from 1.00pm – 3.15pm Irish Time with the final being aired live on RTE One.
Event info:
The 24 gymnasts with the highest ranking obtained in the qualifying competition advance to the All-Around Final with a maximum of 2 gymnasts per country. The 8 highest ranked gymnasts in the qualifying competition per apparatus advance to the Apparatus Finals, again with a maximum of 2 gymnasts per country / final.
2 Olympic quota for men and 2 for women will be determined based on the results of the all-around qualification competition. For the Tokyo 2020 Qualification, the handling of eligibility and results is the responsibility of FIG.
See below remaining schedule of the event.
Friday 23rd April
Men’s Artistic All-Around final – Friday 23rd April from 4.00 – 7.00pm Irish Time on RTÉ Player https://www.rte.ie/player/onnow
Saturday 24th April
Apparatus final Day 1 – 1.00pm – 3.15pm Irish Time on RTÉ ONE (Men’s Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings and Women’s Vault and Uneven Bars)
Sunday 25th April
Apparatus final Day 2 – 11.45am-3pm on RTÉ TWO (Men’s Vault, Parallel Bar and High Bar and Women’s Beam and Floor)
For more information about the event please visit https://www.europeangymnastics.com/event/2021-european-championships-artistic-gymnastics/overview
