Pamela Clark Finishes Ninth at the World Championships
The 2014 Trampoline World Championships took place in Daytona Beach, Florida, from the 7th – 9th November. Just 3 individual senior trampolinists were selected to represent Great Britain; Pamela Clark (formerly East Kilbride TC, now City of Liverpool TC), Kat Driscoll and Bryony Page.
First year senior competitor Pamela had already experienced competing on the big stage in 2014, having been selected for the GB European Championships team which went on to take gold in Portugal in April.
Selection for the World Championships was announced by British Gymnastics days before Pamela went on to successfully defend her title at the Scottish National Championships in Perth on the 11th October.
The qualification rounds of the World Championships commenced on Friday 7th November. Pamela put in 2 solid routines giving her a combined score of 96.900 and a 17th place finish, qualifying for the semi-final. Speaking after the competition she reflected, “I was pleased with my set routine but I was a little disappointed with my voluntary. Fingers crossed I can do it better in the semi-final! My preparation has been going well but I didn’t know what to expect as a first year senior. I got through it though and I’m happy.”
Whilst 24 athletes qualified for the semi-final, only the top 8 would progress to the final (max 2 per country). With all 3 British women having qualified for the semi-final they knew they would be battling not only with the opposition but with each other for a place in the final.
The first of the British women to compete in the semi-final, Pamela performed with exceptional maturity. Keeping centred throughout and with tidy twisting she ensured she improved on her qualification score of 50.915, this time taking 52.135. In spite of the outstanding performance she was narrowly squeezed out of the top 8, finishing in 9th place.
Great Britain team-mate Kat Driscoll qualified for the final in 6th place, going on to finish 4th in the final. Bryony Page finished 14th in the semi-final.