15-year old Emma Slevin capped off a superb Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires after finishing fifth in the Balance Beam Finals last night. This was the Artistic gymnast’s fourth final of the games – a truly outstanding achievement.
Slevin, who competes for Renmore Gymnastics Club in Galway, made history at the Youth Olympic Games Qualifying Competition in Baku, as she qualified for the Youth Olympic Games. As a result she became the first Irish gymnast to compete at this level.
Despite a gruelling week of competition where she competed in six out of the seven days, Slevin surpassed all expectations with qualifications for four finals.
In the first of the four finals, Slevin put in an extraordinarily elegant performance which secured a 6th place finish in the All Around final. Slevin scored 13.433 in the Vault, 12.700 on the Uneven Bars and 12.233 on the Beam to leave her in 5th position. Her concluding routine on floor brought her total score up to 50.499. Her score had her in first place with a few remaining gymnasts yet to complete their final piece. In the end, Slevin moved to 6th place which marked a fantastic start to her Youth Olympic Games.
Emma Slevin is currently sitting in first place in the gymnastics All-Around final!
Fingers crossed she can stay in a podium position with just a few athletes left to compete!
?? Check put her final rotation! Amazing stuff! @GymnasticsIre @TeamIreland
?: Olympic YouTube pic.twitter.com/eA6oPovBp7
— HerSport (@HerSportDotIE) October 12, 2018
The Vault final was next up for Team Ireland’s youngest squad member. A new personal best of 13.2 in qualification was enough to secure a place in the final. Slevin placed 8th against stiff competition in the final, after a brilliant score of 12.833. Just over two hours later, Team Ireland’s flag-bearer competed in her third final – the Uneven Bars. A score of 12.833 was enough to see her through as the 7th best qualifier in qualification. In the final, Slevin once again surpassed everyone’s expectations to secure an 8th place finish after a score of 12.600.
The Galway gymnast saved her best result for last in the Beam final as she recorded a brilliant score of 11.800 to seal 5th place. In qualifying Slevin racked up another personal best with a stunning score of 12.433. Overall, 5th place capped off an outstanding Games for the gymnastic superstar as she announced herself on the world stage amongst high-class competition.
Despite suffering with a foot injury towards the end of the Games, Slevin showed brilliant composure and professionalism to persevere and execute top qualify performances.
After becoming the first Irish athlete to qualify for the gymnastic events, Slevin has truly cemented herself as one to watch in the future after her breakthrough performances on the global stage. Her performances showed great promise for the future and despite her young age, she is certain to be a role-model for budding gymnasts in the future.
To find out more about how artistic gymnastics scoring works and where you can get involved click here!
That moment when you see your parents after completely blasting past everyone’s expectations and make it into four FINALS at the Youth Olympic Games!!! Emma Slevin competes in the Artistic Gumnastics All Around Finals between 5-7.30pm local time - that’s 9-11.30pm Irish time ?? pic.twitter.com/VegnkbXS8w
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) October 12, 2018
