The 2017 Isle of Man Gymnastics Championships took place recently in front of a packed audience at Manx Gymnastics Centre of Excellence.

More than 40 of the island’s most talented gymnasts competed over the course of the day, showcasing an incredible display of acrobatics, strength, balance and flexibility.

The highlight of the annual event is the crowning of the new senior Isle of Man champions which this year saw Ellan Vannin GC’s Nick Harvey and MGCE’s Nicole Burns take the honours respectively in the overall men’s and women’s senior competition.

In the senior events there were more than just medals at stake, with several gymnasts hoping to achieve an all-important Commonwealth Games consideration score.

The women’s all around event was a closely-fought affair with each of the three competitors achieving a gold medal on at least one piece.

EVGC’s Tara Donnelly delivered a confident and precise routine on what many gymnasts would arguably consider the most difficult piece of apparatus, the beam, to take the gold medal on this apparatus.

It was, however, not quite enough to take the overall silver medal which went to younger sister Chloe Donnelly who showed her strength on the vault and floor, delivering a beautiful routine on the latter piece to take gold medals on both apparatus, which gained her silver overall.

The overall title went to MGCE’s Burns whose steady and impressive performances throughout the competition, including a first-rate bars routine, saw her collect a gold and three silver apparatus medals, leading her to her finish in first place overall. In addition, both Nicole and Chloe achieved a Commonwealth Games consideration score.

The men’s competition saw Ellan Vannin’s Nick Harvey compete on all six pieces of apparatus before being crowned the men’s senior Isle of Man champion. Despite being the sole competitor, Nick had to remain focused and deliver a top-class performance in order to achieve his goal of gaining a Commonwealth Games consideration score. He did not disappoint, delivering quality routines on all pieces, including particularly impressive performances on vault and floor.

Despite a nervous wait after the initial results where his start values were re-calculated, Nick joined Nicole and Chloe in coming away with the Commonwealth Games consideration score he deserved.

The rest of the competition saw medals being awarded to both clubs in a very promising display of younger talent which bodes well for the future of gymnastics in the island. In round one, novice age nine, MGCE’s Zara Stott took overall gold after winning the vault and beam title.

She was followed in second place by EVGC’s Ria Kelly who championed on bars and floor, with MGCE’s Isla Gray putting in some steady performances to take third place. Zara also claimed the overall novice title awarded to the highest achiever over both age groups.

In the biggest field of the day, MGCE’s Evie Powell took overall gold in the novice age 10 category with a gold medal on beam and a bronze on floor.

She was followed very closely by EVGC’s Naomi Maddrell who took gold on vault and bars and a silver on floor. Overall bronze went to EVGC’s Amara Brogan who came away with two silver apparatus medals.

In the novice age 11-12 competition EVGC’s Hermione Parry delivered gold medal vault and floor performances to win the overall title ahead of MGCE’s Shannon Hands who claimed the beam title and overall silver medal, and club-mate Lydia Whylie who came away with the bars title and overall bronze medal.

In the regional level four junior competition, Sophia Reid took the overall title with gold medal performances on beam and floor. Close behind was Grace Roberts who delivered a high scoring vault to take gold on this apparatus as well as medalling on all other pieces to finish in silver position. EVGC’s Amelia Waddicor performed a tidy and well-executed bars routine to claim the gold medal on this piece, finishing in overall third place.

The regional level four senior competition saw the two competitors take home an equal share of gold and silver apparatus medals, MGCE’s Becky Bellhouse triumphing on bars and beam while EVGC’s Keri Hampson took the vault and floor titles, with Becky taking the overall gold medal.

In round two, levels five, four and regional level three saw, EVGC’s Elizabeth Campbell, Millie Blackall and Keely Shimmin as sole competitors, delivering consistent routines on all four apparatus to win overall gold in their respective categories.

Level three was an all EVGC affair with club-mates Georgia Price and Chloe McKenzie battling it out for the all around title. It was a close competition with Chloe taking gold on each apparatus, and the all around title with Georgia in close pursuit.

In the Espoir competition, MGCE’s Reine Temporaza delivered a first-class bars routine to take the gold medal on this piece.

Despite picking up the gold medals on all other three pieces of apparatus, EVGC’s Lucy Worthington did not manage to catch Reine overall, with the all around gold going to Reine, followed by Lucy in the silver position.

Bronze position overall went to EVGC’s Cody Smith who picked up three silver medals to finish third in what was a very strong category.

All three of the junior competitors came from MGCE with Madison Nicol taking the overall title after delivering gold medal performances on bars, beam and floor. Emma Sutton claimed three silver medals to finish in overall silver position with Kelsie Gibbs, who only competed on two out of the four apparatus, winning the vault title and claiming silver on beam.

Also in action on the day were the under-16 men, Connor Esp and Callum Kewley, both representing MGCE. Connor delivered a gold medal-winning vault, but it was Callum who picked up first place on all other apparatus, including an impressive P-bars routine, to win overall gold.

Isle of Man Gymnastics Association would like to extend its thanks to the organisers, judges and volunteers who made the event such a success.

The next event taking place at MGCE is the Isle of Man Invitational competition which will see many local gymnasts competing against teams from the UK and Ireland. It is anticipated that around 100 gymnasts will compete over the weekend of December 2-3 and anyone is welcome to come and support what looks to be another exceptional weekend of gymnastics.

ANGELA ROBERTS