Gymnastics boss pleased with Pan Am Champs performances

PRESIDENT OF Jamaica’s Gymnastics Association, Nicole Grant, is pleased with the performances of the three-member team of Isabelle David, Alana Walker, and Elel Wahrmann-Baker at the recently Pan American Gymnastics Championships in San Marta, Colombia.

“I’m really impressed with the performances. For Alana, to see her being out for three years and come back doing well and still be up there in terms of her skills, we are impressed and feel that come next year she will do a lot better. Isabelle is just amazing, she’s consistent and we pray that she just stays healthy and keeps improving on her skills. Elel, our lone male gymnast, was named reserve for two events and for him to push through we’re optimistic that he’ll be better come next year,” the president explained.

Walker amassed 46.367 points which was good enough for 15th in the final, while teammate David finished 17th in the 24-member final with a score of 45.867.

Wahrmann-Baker, the country’s lone male representative, narrowly missed out on a place in the men’s final after placing 24th overall in the qualifiers. According to Grant, the team exceeded expectations with the tournament being used as a litmus test for next year’s World Championships.

“Honestly, we went above expectations because we didn’t expected them to reach the finals, let alone reserves. We weren’t expecting too much from them but was eyeing this event as a good little experience for warming for what is to come. Also, it was to see their competitors and see what was needed to be done in order to perform better come next year. Therefore, we were surprised that they were waving the Jamaican flag in the final,” said Grant.

Still, Grant is not making any predictions about how Jamaica will compete at the World Championships, preferring to wait and see.

“We will know come World Championships next year, as this year there’s none because of the Olympics.”

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com