Mission possible

Aussie women clinch first gymnastics gold

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Posted: Friday September 25, 1998 07:30 PM

Lisa Skinner helped power the Australian team to a gold medal Laurence Griffiths/Allsport

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CNN/SI) -- Australia won its first Commonwealth games women's team gymnastics medal with breakthrough performances by five athletes including one floor exercise performed to the theme from "Mission Impossible."

The teenage students garnered 111.408 points to defeat defending champion England, which got 110.640 points in a neck and neck competition that remained in the balance until the last rotation. The bronze went to Canada, which had 108.884.

"We are so excited. We were up to a slow start but we did it as a team," said Australian all-round champion Zeena McLauglin as she and her teammates grouped outside the arena, still clad in purple leotards, waiting for the medal presentation ceremony.

"This was the best performance I have ever seen from Australian girls," manager Frances Crampton said. "It is history."

Australia went into its last routine, the floor exercises, leading by a half point over England, which was doing its final performance on the balance beam.

After three false starts, Lisa Skinner, a 17-year-old who finished 36th overall at the Atlanta Olympics, performed to "Mission Impossible" scoring heavily with a clean 1 1/2 twist and artistic body movements.

A couple of fumbles cut her score to 8.875, which Australia eventually dumped under the rule to pick the best three results from four performers.

With pressure building, Trudy McIntosh - at 14 the youngest Australian in the Commonwealth squad - produced a near flawless performance of 9.337, getting enormous heights in her somersaults.

McIntosh had earlier produced the best performance of the day on the balance beam with a score of 9.725.

Allana Slater, 17, followed McIntosh with 9.362, executing a perfect third line: a double twist forward. The last one to go in was McLaughlin. With her act crucial to consolidating a victory, the 17-year-old from Melbourne, came up with the team's best score of 9.550.

Meanwhile, England started disastrously with Annika Reeder slipping on the balance beam, a misstep that brought her score down to 8.712. England cast it aside to take the best scores of Lisa Mason (9.675), Kelly Hackman (9.362) and Melissa Wilcox (9.012).

But their combined score of 28.049 was not enough to overtake the Australians who had built upon their 0.568 point lead on the floor. Katarina Frketic was used only on the balance beam where she scored 9.237.

Asked who was the heroine of the day, the girls cried: "Our coaches!"

The English competitors, traditionally strong on tumbling and twisting, also suffered on the uneven bars, getting a low score of 26.737 points.

Asked if they were under pressure, knowing that their final routines would make the difference between gold and silver, the English girls chorused: "No!"

"I felt quite relieved," said Mason.

"We were not looking at the scores," said Reeder. "We were just trying to enjoy ourselves."

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