Junior Pan Ams Gymnastics Day #1 Results
Danielle Wall and Clara James, both 14 year old students at Bermuda High School, finished the first round of competition today at the Junior Pan American Championships in Aracaju, Brazil. They started strong on vault with a pair of yurchenko tucks. Danielle scored a 12.267 and Clara earned a 12.1.
Gymnasts and coaches Mandi Baughman and Duke Nelligan
Moving on to the uneven bars, Danielle had a strong routine but unfortunately over rotated her dismount, scoring a 7.367. Clara did not have any falls but had a technical error on one of her skills. She scored 7.533 but incurred a tough 4.0 deduction due to this, finishing with a 3.533.
“We are very proud of our gymnasts today. They are competing alongside some of the best gymnasts in the world and are being judged under the same rules and criteria as those athletes. On vault they held nothing back and our scores were competitive with the other gymnasts in our group. On bars we had small mistakes and unfortunately the scoring at this level can be very strict. We are looking forward to tomorrow to have another opportunity to represent Bermuda at this prestigious competition,” says Coach Duke Nelligan.
Danielle and Clara marching into the competition
The girls were in a group with Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. Also competing in the morning session were Colombia, Costa Rica, and Canada. The afternoon sessions will see 9 more teams including Mexico and the host country Brazil.
The gymnasts will then return to action tomorrow in round 2 on the balance beam and floor exercise.
This is the first major international event for Danielle and Clara. It serves as the Pan American region’s qualifying event for the Youth Olympic Games, taking place in August in China.
Stay focused girls , do your best against stiff competition .