Disability Gymnasts Lead the Way at British
Disability gymnasts led the way for Scotland at the British Championships last weekend, winning a haul of medals at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
Sophie Crawford from City of Glasgow Gymnastics Club won two golds in the women’s artistic Disability Masters, on the beam and floor, improving on her scores at the Scottish Artistic Championships earlier in the month.
City of Aberdeen’s Orianne Slater followed up her success in Perth by standing on every step on the revolving podium in Liverpool, winning gold on uneven bars, silver on floor and bronze on vault. Just behind Slater was Georgia Carslaw (City of Glasgow) who was sitting in third place after her first vault.
In the men’s artistic Disability Masters, Ramsay Meiklem (City of Glasgow GC) won a silver medal in parallel bars, having also excelled at the Bell’s Sports Centre.
In the senior men’s event, Southport’s Frank Baines won individual gold on the floor with a score of 14.250, with Hamish Carter (City of Birmingham) taking bronze in the same event and in the vault. Carter, who sought Scottish eligibility through his mother’s provenance which was recently granted by the Commonwealth Games Federation, added silver on the floor in the Masters’ event on Sunday.
There were a number of other notable performances from the Scots. David Weir qualified for the Masters final in vault and was 14th overall in the senior all-around, one place ahead of his City of Glasgow club mate, Kelvin Cham, in their first British Championships at senior level.
In the under 18s all-around, Joshua Lincoln (Bury) was ninth and Glasgow’s Adam Logan 11th, while Scottish junior men’s champion, Pavel Karnejenko, was unable to compete due to injury. Scottish youth champion, Cameron Lister (Pipers Vale) was eighth overall in the under 16s, while West Lothian’s Aidan Jordaan, who is on the Scottish Gymnastics Performance Pathway Programme, came a creditable 17th in his first British Championships in this age-group.
In the senior women’s event, Scottish Champion Shannon Archer (City of Glasgow) was fifth in the vault final and 13th in the all-around. Also putting in a good performance were Sofia Ramzan (Dundee 2K) who finished one ahead in 12th, and Garioch’s Izzy Tolometti who was 14th at her first senior British championships. City of Glasgow’s Carly Smith injured her hamstring during her floor routine but is not thought to be in doubt for the English Championships.
In the junior women, Scottish junior all-around champion Ellie Russell (West Lothian) was fifth and sixth in the floor and vault finals respectively, and 21st in the all-around. Kirsty Fowler (City of Aberdeen) was one place behind in the vault final, and 18th all-around, while Megan Morrison (City of Glasgow) was the best placed in the all-around, finishing in 15th place.
> View full results from British Championships
Photo courtesty of PSB Photography: Sophie Crawford at the Scottish National Artistic Championships