Journal
15th August 2008
Competition day!! (quailifications)
At about 8.30am we all woke up feeling really excited and ready to go and compete but we still had a while before we could actually do that. We were in round 2 competing with the Italians, Japanese and Americans but we did not have to start warm up until 11.30am so we had a late breakfast at about 9am then we came back to our apartment and had a small rest before we all started to get ready. It took us all about an hour to get ready which included hair, make up and all that jazz, then it was off to the competition.
When we arrived at the competition hall all the other teams were there waiting, looking slightly nervous but all ready to compete. Our general warm up went well then we had 4, 20 minute rotations before we got changed into our competition leotards, the numbers went on and we were off. We then wished the other teams good look then we entered the arena, it was sooooooo big, the crowd was huge and at that stage it really kicked in what we were about to go and do. As we marched to our first piece (vault) i just couldn't wait to get going. I was 5th up on vault and as a team we counted no mistakes so vault was done and there were 3 pieces left.
On bars our first 3 gymnasts did a great job, no mistakes so then it was left to me and beth to do our jobs to. That didn't quite go to plan but even though we had slight mistakes we still as a team counted no falls so bars was ok, then we moved to beam. All of our beam warm ups were a bit shaky but as we started competing those errors soon disappeared. The first two gymnasts up were rock solid and we posted some pretty good scores for team GB , then our last 3 gymnasts had a few small mistakes nothing major but still no falls were counted so we just had 1 piece left, floor.
Floor was a good piece for us to finish on as we were all confident with our routines and were ready to show them off to the judges and that's just what we did. 5 clean floor routines for team GB and now all we could do was wait as there were still 2 more rounds to go. After the comp we went back to the village to eat and quickly change before we went back to the arena to watch the last two rounds. The gymnasts in the last two rounds were all very good and this sadly caused us to loose a place in the team final as we finished in 9th place but even 9th place was a new record for team GB. I then found out that even with a few errors, i had made the all around final so i had a second chance to prove what i can really do. I now have 4 more days to work on my routines ready for fridays AA competition wish me luck.
Luv bex xxx
11th August 2008
Hey everyone!!
I'm having a fantastic time over hear in china and I have experienced soooo much in such a short space of time. I started my olympic journey by going to Macau for a preparation camp, which was awesome. I stayed in a 5 star hotel and i shared a room with my team mate Hannah Clowes, where we had a king bed each, a balcony with a sea view and the glistening sun that was about 30+ degrees HOT!! so i didn't find it hard to enjoy my time there. We did do lots of training over there but we defiantly made some time for the fun stuff 2. We stayed in Macau for about 10 days and throughout that time we managed to meet Chelsea football club, go and watch Cirque Du Soleil and meet the cast, swim, sunbathe by the pool and the usual eat,sleep and train. So with stage one complete we then flew to Beijing.
As soon as we arrived in Beijing we were treated like royalty so there was no complaining there. Our bags were ready on trolleys waiting for us to collect them, then we went straight through the airport, no waiting around and as we left there we loads of photographers taking shots of the athletes coming through which made us feel like real celebs. After about a 45 minute bus journey we soon arrived at the OLYMPIC VILLAGE and my first impression was WOW!! non of us could believe what we were seeing and in marissa's words it was like sim city.
We are all sharing an apartment together which is pretty big and i'm sharing a room with my other team mate Marissa. The village is just huge there is so much to see but we can't experience it all until we have finished our competition. We have now been training at the olympic venues for about a week and we are all so excited and ready for podium training and the competition. I will write soon to let you know how everything is going and what it was like to compete in the olympic games.
luv becky xxx
17th July 2008
Hi everyone, i am sorry i haven't updated my website in ages but i have been super busy. I can't believe its olympic year already, it doesn't seem 2 seconds since i was watching Athens on tv.
2007 was an awesome year for me, I started the year by going to texas for a training camp. The purpose of the camp was basically to get fit again and to look at the year plan to make sure we defiantly qualified a whole team through to the olympics . We worked a lot on routine parts and conditioning but the best part for me was getting to meet some of the American gymnasts. We went for about 10 days and when i came back i had to prepare for a couple of comps so i got used to competing again.
The comps i did went ok but i knew i still had a lot more work to do if i wanted to make the worlds team.
After these comps my next target was to help notts try and win the British team championships. We all new at notts that we had a chance of taking the title but it all depended on how hard we worked for it, so the next step was to move up a level and work even harder, so that dream would become a reality. And it did, about a month later Notts were crowned the 2007 british team champions! :)
After british teams we had a bit of a rest period to work on some new skills ready for our next comp. My next comp was in BRAZIL! this was one of the best trips i have ever been on so far. The weather was amazing but it was hard to train in because it was so hot. This comp went ok for me, i did have a few falls but i competed my Ricna on bars and my double pike dismount off beam for the first time and stuck them both, so it wasn't all bad. The next day we had finals and i came 3rd on bars and 2nd on vault so i came home pleased but not as pleased as i'd like. Then it was back to more hard work so i was ready for the British.
The british came round so fast after Brazil but i was really looking forward to it because i had to try and defend my title. I had a good comp even though i fell but still managed to defend my title as British junior AA champion. In the Finals i fell on my DTY but still did a good enough second vault to finish in 1st place. Bars went well as i fell the previous day and i also won bars but i did fall on beam and messed up my leap series on floor so there was still room for improvement.
Once the british was over we had to go to lilishall for 6 weeks! to prepare for the World championships. This was the longest i have ever been away from home. Throughout the 6 weeks we had a number of trails and control comps, loads of routines, tears and smiles but all in all we had a great time. Because we were there for sooooooooooo long we really bonded well as a team and helped each other through the highs and lows of the camp.
WORLDS
We arrived in Stuttgart excited and ready to do our job. We trained for about a week in stuttgart before the comp so we could get used to the apparatus and get over any jetlag. On the day of the comp we had a long wait because we didn't compete till the night. When we arrived in the warm up gym in the evening we were so nervous but just couldn't wait to compete, our warm went well then we got changed and waited to march in.
The atmosphere in the comp gym was amazing, the crowd was big, its was quite noisy and it just made you feel like WOW.
We started on beam, beam went really well we were able to count 4 clean routines which was exactly what we needed to do, then we moved to floor, i didn't compete floor because i had bad feet but the team continued to do a good job. Next was vault, we new this was our strongest piece so we were confident and all managed to compete a fantastic vault. we finally arrived at bars, we new we were good on bars but we were not so confident as we had not managed to complete a lot of routines in training. First up was hannah, she went clean did a good routine so we new we just needed 3 more clean routines, next was becky wing who also went clean, then it was ash who scored a huge 14.7 which boosted the whole team then it was me. I was nervous but ready to finish what i started and surprisingly did the best bar routine of my life to score 15.5 this was our 4 routines complete but we still had our best yet to come, last up was beth who did what she knew to complete our comp with a 16.025!
Then we waited. we knew we had to make top 12 then it appeared on the score board GREAT BRITAIN 6TH!!!!!!!!!
We were all over the moon our hard work had paid off and we not only qualified but we made history. This was just the best feeling ever but now we had to do it all again because GB actually made a team final. The team final was the biggest reward ever and we just went out there to enjoy it because we knew we had nothing to loose. Team finals also went well and we finished our championships with happy faces and hugs all round. we had done it!!!!!!!!!!
After worlds it was like finally we are actually allowed a rest. During this rest period i had surgery on both feet to remove some bone that had been causing me problems since the summer and now was the time to get it done. The surgery went well and i was back in the gym within a week, to do conditioning to stay fit. After about 3 weeks i started doing bars again and i was allowed to start jogging.
To end the year we went to china for a training camp, so we could see what it would be like if we went to Beijing. We went to macau first for a week then we flew to Beijing. In beijing we got to train at the chinese national centre which was awesome and we got to see the chinese gymnasts train. We also had a few shopping trips out there which we all enjoyed and we all bought so much that our bags gained nearly 5kg each on the way home. :)
2008
I had a really good xmas and new year and i am now back to working hard and i am almost fully fit. I have got a few squads coming up and am currently preparing for european trails.
loads of luv bex