Galway gymnast Emma Slevin made history this morning by becoming the first Irish woman to compete in a World Championships final
Slevin earned her way into this final after a brilliant display in the heats on Tuesday. She joined a list of 24 of the world’s best gymnasts after she was ranked in 19th place in qualifying. The Championships was taking place in Kitakyushu in Japan.
To read more about how Emma Slevin qualified for this morning’s final, click here.
She made her way into the arena for the women’s All-Around final at 10:00 this morning.
Two of the highest-ranking women going into this were the USA’s Kayla de Cello and Russia’s Angelina Melnikova.
Making history ⭐️
Emma Slevin has become the first Irish woman to ever reach the Women’s All Around Finals at the Gymnastics World Championships 🙌
👉 Emma scored qualifies 21st
✏️11.466 Balance Beam
✏️12.466 on Floor
✏️12.700 Uneven Bars
✏️13.533 on Vault
☑️AA score of 50.165 pic.twitter.com/p0j9hbUaAg— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) October 19, 2021
Women’s AA World Championships final
The Galway woman was the highest-ranked of the fourth group of athletes. This group began their set with a routine on the floor mat.
After Round One, De Cello was in first place with a score of 14.600 while Slevin found herself in 22nd place with 11.264.
Next up, the Irish woman would go sixth in her group on the vault. She scored a well-needed 13.600 with the crowd showing their excitement at her routine. At the halfway point, she jumped up in the ranking to 17th place.
Slevin’s third apparatus would be a challenging prospect on the uneven bars. After a moderately difficult routine, she moved into 18th place with an overall score of 37.399.
She was nearly five and a half marks behind the Russian leader going into the last round. Slevin finished her event with the balance beam. After a decent routine earning 13.733, she finished out the competition in 19th place with a final score of 50.132, very narrowly off her qualification score.
The gold medal in the women’s All-Around was awarded to Russia’s Melnikova. America’s Wong and Di Cello won silver and bronze respectively.
The end of Slevin’s campaign also spells the end of Ireland’s involvement in the World Championships in Kitakyushu.
This has been a very impressive and successful year for Slevin after performing strongly in the European Championships and finishing in 19th place at only 17 years of age.
Now 18 years old, the Galway woman still has plenty of years to improve on her performances internationally.
To read more in-depth and up-to-date Irish gymnastics and other sports news, click here.
