With the Australian team being the defending champions, great things were expected for the team four years on in Manchester. Only Allana Slater remained from the 1998 team, but with her four new teammates, a fantastic team was on hand for the Games.

Day One - Team Competition

Australia was undoubtedly the favourites for the team title in 2002, but in gymnastics, anything can happen.

England began well with four solid floor routines, with their highest scores coming from both Becky Owen and Katy Lennon at 9.050.

Australia followed, and showed that there was no stopping the defending champions. Stephanie Moorhouse started the team off with her only performance of the day, and a lovely routine (2½ twist-layout front; triple twist; double pike) for 8.925. Second up was Alex Croak, who has recently put difficulty back into her routine. Yet no one needed to be worried, a beautiful, high STUCK double Arabian first line, front through to 2½ twist and double pike, for 9.250. The scores were building perfectly, and already a comprehensive lead was being established. (Right: The victorious Australian team from left to right: Stephanie Moorhouse, Jacqui Dunn, Allana Slater, Sarah Lauren and Alex Croak).

Third up on floor was Sarah Lauren, the youngest member of the team at still only 14 years old. However, her maturity is really beginning to show through, and she earned a fantastic 9.450 (Arabian double front; two whips through to triple twist; double twisting front; double pike). With three strong scores already in the bag, Allana Slater was only going to increase the lead. Her usual brilliance was on show today, and a 9.575 put Australia almost 1.3 ahead of England after the first rotation.

Canada began well on beam, but a few errors kept their scores down. Kate Richardson started off her Commonwealth campaign with a lovely 9.125 routine, including a real Omelianchik (three quarter twisting flip to split handstand), handstand-layout-layout, and two flips to double back dismount.

Rotation two saw Australia beginning on vault, and all four girls doing the same vault - the piked Luconi. Jacqui Dunn was first up scoring 9.10, followed by Allana (9.225), Sarah (9.20) and Alex (9.250). Yet another extension in the team standings, as England's highest score on the same apparatus was 9.050 for a handspring piked front with half turn from Katy Lennon.

Canada also had their problems on floor, despite showing lovely choreography throughout their routines. Both Danielle Hicks and Heather Purnell earned 8.875 before Kylie Stone added a 9.125 for her routine to drum and bass music. Kate Richardson arguably earned the crown for best choreography and performance, but had problems on her tumbling (out of bounds twice, and only a double twist instead of a triple) for just 8.825. They were still in third after the second apparatus.

The third rotation saw England begin on bars, where Nicola Willis counted 8.70 and Becky Owen 8.90 before Beth Tweddle stepped up. The European bronze medallist and grand prix gold medallist this year, Beth did not disappoint her home crowd with a very good 9.475 (Markelov, giant full-Gienger, full out dismount). Canada improved their team total with a good showing on vault, highlighted by Vanessa Meloche's 9.150 (piked front half) and Kate Richardson's 9.250 (piked Luconi).

Australia headed to the bars feeling confident, and why not with such a lead. Alex began with a beautiful routine and earned 9.400 - what a score to start with! Sarah followed, and was a little shaky for 9.150, but definitely not a score to be disappointed with. Allana put in her usual lovely and difficult routine for an excellent 9.500 (free hip half-Jaeger-Pak salto, hop full-Gienger, full in dismount), which set the stage for Australia's best bar worker. However, perhaps little nerves got the better of Jacqui, who showed a lovely routine but for an extra cast to handstand on the low bar. This hurt her start value slightly and kept her score down to 9.275, and third place amongst the Aussies on this apparatus (hence no qualification to the bars final).

Canada were to finish their team competition first, with Australia and England on a bye (there were five rotations). Their performance on bars was a little shaky, with Heather Purnell scoring 8.250 (fall on her double layout dismount) and Kylie Stone 8.725. Vanessa Meloche earned a great 9.350 for a clean routine (Markelov, very high Jaeger, double front dismount), before Kate Richardson unfortunately fell a pirouetting eagle giant. After getting back up she finished her routine cleanly, but much to everyone's confusion, the score came up as a 0. Perhaps she took too long to get back up? No one knew what had happened, but after an explanation from the judges, her new score was awarded as 8.30, with technical problems the reason for the mistake.

Canada had finished on a total of 106.800, the target for the English. With one apparatus to go for both England and Australia, it seemed that Australia could not lose the gold. They would be able to count numerous falls, and still win the gold. But on the beam, anything could happen...

If she was disappointed about her performance on bars, it did not show in the beam routine of Jacqui. She fought back with the highest Australian score on that apparatus, 9.275 (Dunn mount, flip-Onodi, front aerial-handspring, flip-flip-double back dismount). Alex competed next, and experienced several wobbles but no falls for 8.850. Sarah needed just 6.60 to overtake the Canadians into first place, and did that with ease. However, she produced Australia's only fall of the day, quite remarkable out of 12 routines! Her 8.30 pushed Australia into the lead, and Allana hit her recently problematic beam routine for 9.125 - and a lead for Australia of 4.525 over Canada. In fact the remarkable had won the gold with England still to complete the competition, but even three 10's towards their team total would not be enough to take the gold away from Australia.

So the battle was for the silver. It would be tough for England on the beam, their weakest apparatus. Beth Tweddle started shakily and a fall on her front somersault for 8.20. Katy Lennon scored 8.225, while Becky Owen scored 8.925. Nicola Willis would need 8.60 on beam to tie Canada for the silver, but this was not too simple a task for Nicola, on her weakest apparatus. But she fought through her routine like a veteran, and earned 8.70 - and the silver for England by just 0.10! Even Canada had to applaud this result, after all, it was just so close.

A successful defence of the Commonwealth team title for Australia, by a very healthy margin of 4.425. The team looked simply sensational, and with all due respect to their fellow competitors, looked to be in a class of their own. They always looked like a true team, working together and were as well prepared as they could have hoped. To have just one fall in twelve routines is sensational, and in the end only three of those twelve scores were under 9.0. A brilliant effort. Well done Australia! (Left: The scoreboard at the finale of the women's team competition).

Rotation One: Leading into the all around final, the Australians were in 1-2-3 positions, with Allana first, Alex second and Sarah third. The Australians held all three medals in 1998 - could they do it again? Other big favourites for medals included Kate Richardson from Canada, and Beth Tweddle and Becky Owen from England.

Alex was the first big competitor to compete, and she was first up on bars. Perhaps nerves got the better of Alex, as she experienced a disastrous routine (fell the wrong way out of a full pirouette; hit the floor on the low bar; big step on dismount) for just 7.675. It seemed the dream of the medal trifecta had vanished.

Heather Purnell began well for Canada with 9.050 to the popular floor music of "Victory" by Bond, while English Beth Tweddle and Becky Owen earned solid starts on vault with 8.962 and 8.950 respectively. Sarah followed them for Australia, and her piked and tucked Luconi's gave her an average of 9.137 and the lead so far.

However, Kate Richardson from Canada, as one of the favourites for the gold medal was up next on beam. She performed a gorgeous and seemingly flawless beam routine for 9.60 - definitely the highlight of the day. Allana was the final competitor on floor, and like Alex, perhaps let the nerves get the better of her. Starting with a lovely whip-triple twist, her second pass of 2½ twist-layout front was landed on her back, and an eventual score of 8.875. Could that be the end of Allana's Commonwealth gold medal dream?

Rotation Two: Heather Purnell added a 9.125 on vault for Canada, and established herself as a quiet threat for a medal. Teammate Kate Richardson fixed her problems of yesterday on floor, by completing her triple twist as planned and staying in bounds, for 9.175 and retaining the lead. Beth Tweddle moved up in the standings with a 9.475 on bars, while Becky Owen 8.975 on the same apparatus.

Sarah began Australia's hopes for the second rotation, and seemed to be our only chance for gold with Allana and Alex suffering falls. However, that soon disappeared with an unfortunate fall from Sarah on the bars, where she ripped off on a healy just before letting go for her double front half dismount. 8.625 for Sarah, and with all three Aussies making mistakes, perhaps no medals at all for Australia? Could things get any worse?

Allana fought back with a very good score on vault, with 9.187 for a piked Luconi and Yurchenko 1½ twist. Alex suffered another fall, this time off beam, and 8.075. Meanwhile Gayle Campbell of Scotland vaulted well, with 9.012 to add to the 8.575 she received on floor.

Rotation Three: Becky Owen was first up on beam, and the youngest member of the English team earned an 8.625 for a solid routine. Teammate Nicola Willis got the English crowd excited with her Lord of the Dance routine, with a spectacular double layout and piked full in for 9.150. Sarah once again fell off beam for 8.475, putting Australia's campaign into more disarray, while Alex Croak fell on her Arabian double front on floor (8.775).

Allana continued her good form from vault, with the day's highest score on bars (9.550), while Beth Tweddle continued her climb up the rankings with a competitive 8.90 on beam. Kate Richardson stumbled badly on her piked Luconi, and with a Yurchenko full twist earned an average of 8.925. However, she retained her lead. Heather Purnell continued her good day's work with 8.725 on bars.

Rotation Four: Kate Richardson competed fairly early on in the line up, and once again escaped the errors she suffered on the previous day. She completed a clean bars routine for 9.050, and it seemed that she would not be beaten (36.750). However, Allana fought to the very end on beam. A few wobbles and broken connections brought her start value down, and an 8.750 was not enough to catch Kate. Second place for the moment, around 0.4 behind the leader on 36.362.

Sarah finished her day strongly with a very good 9.50 on floor, the highest scorer of the day on that apparatus, and sat behind Allana in third with 35.687. Alex held her head up high with lovely vaulting in the last rotation, but her 9.012, but it was a case of too little too late. A day to forget for Alex!

Heather Purnell finished with a shaky beam routine for 8.475, while Becky Owen fell on her opening full-in on floor for just 8.350. Nicola Willis finished with 9.125 on vault, but all three did not perform enough to overtake either Allana or Sarah. It looked to be silver and bronze for the Aussies, with just Beth Tweddle left to go on floor. But she surprised everyone with her 9.050 and overtook both of them to take the silver.

At the conclusion of the all around competition, Kate Richardson fully deserved the gold medal on this day. Perhaps a disappointing day for the Aussies, but competing to full potential two days in a row is a difficult task for anyone. Silver for Beth Tweddle, and bronze for Allana to go with her silver from 1998. Perhaps a return in 2006 in Melbourne, to try and win the gold she has twice just missed? Fourth place for a happy Sarah Lauren, ahead of Heather Purnell, Nicola Willis, Becky Owen and Kylie Stone. Alex Croak finished 12th.

Day Three - Individual Apparatus Finals

Vault: Aussies Alex Croak and Allana Slater were the top qualifiers for the vault final, and in the final switched places for the gold and silver. Allana showed two very improved vaults - piked Luconi and Yurchenko 1½ - for an average of 9.225 and the gold medal. Very ironic for a gymnast who had so many problems prior to 2002 on the vault! Alex was not far behind Allana with 9.212 - with better vaulting but a lower start value for the second vault (Yurchenko full twist; first vault was a piked Luconi). Vanessa Meloche from Canada took the bronze with a handspring piked front half and Yurchenko full twist for 8.987, just ahead of Kate Richardson on 8.912 (tucked Luconi and Yurchenko full twist).

Bars: The second apparatus final of the day saw the same two Australians competing. Alex overcame her disappointment from the day before, to earn 9.087, but was not quite enough for a medal in fourth place. Allana did all she could, performing all of her skills and sticking her dismount for 9.537. However, it was also not quite enough, this time for gold. Beth Tweddle scored 9.550 and won the gold. Vanessa Meloche took her second bronze of the day, with 9.337 for a lovely routine.

Beam: Jacqui and Allana were Australia's hopes in the beam final, with Jacqui in very good form on this apparatus. Her routine in the final was fantastic, but just a start value of 9.50, much to everyone's confusion. It seemed to be the best performed routine in the final, and her score of 8.912 seemed very stingy. Allana's routine was well done, and her 9.137 gave her silver, and Kate Richardson's routine earned 9.20. Although she has a beautiful beam routine an is arguably the best beam worker in the Commonwealth, her routine on this day did not seem as flawless as she often does - with several wobbles and broken connections.

Floor: The final apparatus was there for the taking for Allana, and she seemed determined to win another gold. But it was not meant to be. After getting through the early tumbling in her routine (the 2½ twist-layout front she fell on in the all around), Allana stumbled on a twisting switch leap, resulting in a fall. Her 9.187 would be good enough for only fourth.

In Allana's absence from the top of the final, West Australian training partner Sarah Lauren stepped up and into the limelight. On the eve of her 15th birthday, Sarah performed like a veteran well beyond her years, and earned 9.412 for the gold. Fellow 15 year olds Becky Owen and Kylie Stone picked up the minor medals with 9.237 and 9.212 respectively.

All in all, and up and down competition for the Australian girls, but with the fantastic achievements in the team competition, one cannot be disappointed. The girls were fantastic, and competing three days in a row is a tough ask. Not only that, with two gold, three silver and two bronze individually, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games were a success for Australia's womens' team. Roll on Melbourne 2006! (Right: Australian team members Stephanie Moorhouse, Sarah Lauren and reserve Danielle Kelly - proud Aussies!).

© ozgymnast, 2002