Trampoline & DMT | Multi-Medal Success for Scots in Portugal
Scottish trampoline, double mini-trampoline and tumbling gymnasts won a total of ten medals across two thrilling events held in Portugal from 3 to 7 July, joining Great Britain delegations to compete on the international stage.
At the 2023 Scalabis Cup in Santarém, there was four days of exciting competition, with gymnasts from Scottish clubs returning home with a haul of team medals including six gold and two silver. The GB team were performing well in podium training, with a mix of debutant and experienced gymnasts making up the team.
On day one of qualification, there were five Scots in action across the three apparatus. First to compete was Sapphire’s U17 tumbler Lois Anderson, returning for her second international call-up after competing at the world age group competition last winter. With a total score of 39.900, she finished in 12th place overall and helped the team win the first gold medal of the event.
Experienced trampoline gymnast, Keir Davidson from Tiggers was next in qualification for U21 men, finishing with a top ten placing thanks to a total of 53.150. It was a second team gold of the day and the performance set the mood for the evening session.
Senior tumbler, Aaron Steel who trains with Durham City and who won a bronze at last year’s world age group competition performed well at Scalabis to score 42.300 and finish in 11th place, again supporting the team to gold medal position.
Sarah Gallacher (Sparta) had a strong start to qualification with a total score of 49.300 and became the first Scot to qualify for finals in a respectable seventh place in the women’s U21 trampoline category. She finished her competition with sixth place in the semi-final, narrowly missing out on a chance to compete for medals and in a tough team competition, the GB women won silver.
Banchory’s Ava Fettes is no stranger to international competition, and as a first time senior, she put out a brilliant performance on the DMT. She qualified for finals in fifth position, scoring 46.200 and also contributing to the team success where another gold was won for GB. Ava maintained her position in the semi-final, thanks to a strong pass, and a final score of 20.100.
On day two, attention stayed fixed on DMT, with the final three Scottish gymnasts starting their competition. In the morning session, debut international gymnast Riley Summers from Scotia finished in 18th place in the men’s U16 category thanks to his score of 45.500 and also won a team silver medal.
There was also debut performance from JUMP’s Paige Russell who’s first run score of 22.900 set her up for a great start in the U14 category, but unfortunately due to her second run not being counted, she ended the competition with a team gold medal, a great experience and a 75th place individual finish.
Returning from an injury that ruled him out of competing at last year’s world age group competition, Paige’s clubmate Ethan Cunningham was the standout performance of the week with a phenomenal start to qualification in the men’s U21 category and a team gold.
With two solid passes, and a score of 52.400, Ethan sat in first place all the way through to the final the following day. After competing his run first in the final, he had to wait to see how his performance would hold up against the other finalists. It all came down to the last gymnast, Spain’s Luis Sanchez who pipped Ethan to the gold by 0.500 marks.
Over in Coimbra, Banchory’s Kim Beattie returned for her eighth senior DMT GB call-up since 2019 at the 2023 World Cup Series event. Looking ahead to a home world championships later this year, Kim performed well at the event, finishing in 10th place behind GB teammate Ruth Sherevan with a score of 49.600.
Congratulations to the gymnasts selected to compete as part of the Great Britain team at both events. You can find full results from the competitions on the official scoring partner’s website, and watch coverage from Scalabis 2023 on their youtube channel.