Kelly Simm and Brinn Bevan insist they can still hold their heads up high despite failing to trouble the podium in the first ever European Games artistic gymnastic all-around finals.
Simm was competing in her first all-around final and it looked as though the nerves had gotten to her as first up on the beam she fell twice.
She then had to regroup quickly and put in a clean floor routine to calm the nerves, while on vault – in which she will compete in Saturday’s final – she showed her trademark skills to score 14.133.
Simm ended on bars by performing a new routine which included her own unique element that impressed the judges for a score of 14.226 and total of 51.932 for 11th spot.
“It was OK, but I'm a bit disappointed and was hoping for a better routine but it has been such a good experience to be in my first all around final,” she said.
“I had a bad first routine and it's always hard after a bad start but I just thought that I had nothing to lose and wanted to show that I could put it behind me and use the experience.
“I was very happy to make the all around final and I was especially happy with the bars today as I got my new routine out.
“We will have two sessions in the gym tomorrow and then it's the finals the next day.
“That was crazy, I've never experienced anything like that before, especially on the beam it was very loud and distracting and I will definitely learn from that.”
Meanwhile, Bevan is in his first year as a senior having turned 18 this week and his competition began steadily with a nice controlled twisting floor routine followed by a steady pommel display.
He then had troubles on his rings dismount – not quite able to control his momentum as he fell backwards – while on vault Bevan showed his character with a superb routine to score 13.833 and then on parallel bars he was again in top form for 14.733 to take him back up the standings.
Ending on high bar Bevan fell twice but showed courage to finish his routine and ended with a total of 82.299 in 14th spot.
“It was a great experience being out there with more experienced gymnasts and the bigger names,” he said.
“Today wasn’t one of my best competitions but it was a big step in the right direction. Today, my idols became my rivals, so it was a great experience to be there.
“I tried a couple of new things and I bettered my floor from qualification. Pommel was a little bit wobbly and my rings routine was a bit better, I just had an unlucky fall on my dismount. Vault is still new to me and I landed that really well, so I was happy with that.
“Parallel bars I tried a new dismount, I landed it and I got a pretty high score. Then I just had a bit of an unlucky finish on the high bar.
“The atmosphere was pretty crazy – the crowd were really supportive and even the other gymnasts were clapping and cheering for me to get back on the high bar.
“I was a little bit dazed because I hit the floor pretty hard but it was a great experience for me.
“To finish the competition off with those big gymnasts, they were so friendly. Obviously I’m new to the team but they made me feel welcome and were really supportive of me.”
© Sportsbeat 2015