“Achievement = talent + preparation”
Time to adopt the Italian lifestyle. We practiced cupping our hands with all fingers and thumb pressed together, rocking the whole hand back and forward whilst frowning and talking simultaneously. We practiced taking 15 coffee breaks every 45seconds during working hours. We practiced extrememly loving greetings with complete strangers. What we didn't practice, was how to cope with the insane heatwave Europe was going through! 30*C at night!!!!
Getting back to the point at hand. We were ready. This was our 2nd time at the Turin International Acro Cup, however this time we had 2yrs experience on our side. Last time, we took 3 partnerships, and we had 1 make the finals. No medals. We wanted to beat that. Was this our time?
Before dawn, 18 grumpy people descended upon Stansted airport. Most importantly 10 grumpy gymnasts slumped through check-in and security and plonked themselves on the plane. Then they woke up. Maybe it was the fuel. Maybe it was the novelty of planes. I don't know what it was. They wouldn't shut up.
We landed in Turin around 10am local time, after a smooth flight, no issues. We stepped off the plane into heat which the UK manages to muster up for about 7 days annually. *This is why we're here*. We knew that we'd be travelling straight from the plane to the Gym, and so we jumped on a lovely bus with AC (thank the lord), and arrived around 30mins later to the familiar competition venue. The first day was Podium Training day (podium training is simply training on the competition equipment, the day before the competition starts). The training went smoothly, no falls or major hiccups. The girls were throwing some nice pitches and somersaults in their purple crop tops looking "profesh" as they say these days. Yunus busting out the guns in his matching sports vest.. it made him smile (slightly... the boy NEVER smiles). Having a good 2.5hrs training, we were ready to eat.
The food was much better than last time, although the food last time didn't exactly set the bar very high. Nevertheless, we munched away and headed back to our Hotel. The rooms were nice, nothing to complain about, although nothing to shout and rave about either.
******AIR RAID!!!!!******
Did you just drop to the floor in a heap? If not, you're now "Air Raid Master". (one of the many hilarious games we adopted throughout the trip!)
It was the First Day of the competition. Our 11-16 trio of Alix, Cassie, and Sofia were up with their dynamic routine. The training went well in the warm up room. They completed their routine with no falls or major errors, but there were some deductions to be taken. They dealt with the nerves well, and produced some nice artistry. They finished 6th out of 18 partnerships after the first day. A good start!
The Second Day of the competition saw the full squad competing, with the 11-16 trio's balance routine, and our MxP, WP and WG combined routines too. It was a successful day for the squad. Our WP and MxP produced great and sturdy routines both qualifying in 2nd place... especially amazing for the WP of Layla & Mercedes as they were in a category of 23 partnerships! Our WG just missed out on qualifying as they received 0.6 technical deductions. Although their Execution score was 3rd highest in the whole category!! Lastly, our 11-16 trio managed to pull off a great new balance routine, which overall made sure they qualified to the finals on the last day. 3 out of 4 partnerships qualified - we've already beat our score last time!!
The Last day of competition was the FINALS! Those doing combined routines had to repeat their routine, and our 11-16 trio repeated their dynamic routine. They were up first. They competed a much cleaner routine than 2days before, but unfortunately competed an 'entry' into a move which was not declared on the tariff (difficulty) sheet, and received a technical deduction for this, resulting in a rank 10 out of 12, which would have been 6 or 7th place without the deductions. Our WP were up next, and given the success of the day before, we were all hoping for a happy ending here. It was close... up until the very last routine of their category, they were in bronze medal position, and then... they were knocked down to 4th!!!! Worst possible way to go out :-( ..... it was hard to deal with that emotionally, for all involved. Nevertheless, they performed amazingly, considering they've only been together for around 6months.
Last but not least, it was our MXP of Yunus and Tara to compete their Finals routine. It was slightly shaky compared to the day before, but my god... YUNUS WAS SMILING!!!! That in itself was enough to say we had a great comp! However, the scores then came up... they won BRONZE!!! Not only that, they were only 0.1 off the Gold medal!!! Our first International Medal!!! What an achievement :)
We ended the trip on a high - we visited the extreeeeeeemely packed out water park, and finished the night off with the Farewell party, which was well deserved by all.
WE DID IT!!! WELL DONE TEAM :)
