My Commonwealth Games - Gymnastics

I arrived in Delhi on 6th October and went to my first Commonwealth Games event the next day. It was Artistic Gymnastics - i.e. the kind with rings and vaults as opposed to streamers and balloons. It was absolutely awesome!

I sat near a Welsh couple, who were the parents of Clinton Purnell who was representing Wales. It was brilliant. They were so friendly and they explained all the intricacies of the competition to me. I would have been clueless otherwise. I met Clinton, although he was not in the finals for that day's events he had come up to say 'hello' to his folks. He was in the finals for the Vault the next day, which sadly I could not get tickets for.

Across the aisle from me were the parents of Reiss Beckford who represented England. Again, they were great to talk to and they were SOOOO proud of their son. Reiss won a silver medal in the Floor competion. He was also in the finals for the Rings - I think he finished 4th. His mum hardly watched him during his whole performance - she was so nervous she had her face in her hands most of the time. :-)


It was a great day for Aussie gymnasts. Tom Pichler won the gold medal for Floor - he was awesome. Later on, he came up to the stands to sit with other Aussies - I assume that they were his girlfriend's parents, or maybe his own family. He was absolutely mobbed by the Indian spectators, and the CWG volunteers had to keep telling people to sit down and be quiet. He must have signed a thousand tickets and was really gracious about it all. I had him sign my ticket - he was really friendly and just enjoying the moment. The photo at the top shows Tom receiving his gold medal and Reiss receiving his silver, and the one to the left shows Tom in the stands, signing tickets while an official tries to keep people away from him.


Australia also won both gold and silver in the women's Uneven Bars. I have a photo of our flag hanging from the ceiling - twice! Australia also won the men's Pommel Horse through Prashanth Sellathurai and Sam Offord was the gold medallist in the Rings. I was able to sing my nation anthem (loudly, out of tune, and almost alone) a total of four times! I loved it. :-)

I was sitting next to a really friendly Indian family who seemed to think that I was personally responsbile for the success of the Australian gymnastics team, congratulating me each time someone did something great. I wish I was responsible - they put on a brilliant peformance. Thanks Aussie gymnastics team!