Sammy's Gymnastic Competition

• Samantha Stephens, Grade 9C
• Short Story
• 2009

Sammy was a happy, cheerful, fit and healthy girl. She had a passion for gymnastic as her mum took her to train everyday. On Mondays and Tuesdays Sammy practices her floor routine. This is Sammy’s favourite apparatus as she is able to do flips, walkovers and leaps perfectly. Sammy’s now very excited as the major competitions in Ballarat is only 2 days away. Sammy is practicing harder then ever before, as she has to prove she is the best 14 year old gymnast around.
It’s the day before the competition and Sammy’s gymnastics coach Rachael has some good and some bad news. The good news first is that if Sammy competes to the best of her ability on Saturday she has a chance to be one of the youngest gymnasts on the Olympic squad. Sammy is so happy and excited she can’t describe her feelings right now, but is nervous to here the bad news. Rachael explains to Sammy that Ruby one of the best gymnasts in the state is coming down from Bendigo to compete against Sammy for the last spot in the Olympics. Sammy is now very anxious about the competition as she needs to believe she can win this and make her dream come true.
Sammy’s never experienced butterflies in her tummy like this before as you can imagine how nervous she is as it is Saturday morning, and the competitions are only 3 hours away, Sammy’s parents come along to support her. The tension is now rising as the judges call Sammy and Ruby onto the floor to perform there routines. Ruby is going first. Ruby is a very strong competitor, so everyone was surprised when Ruby’s routine wasn’t at the expected level; the judges gave her 8.5 out of 10 so Sammy had a fairly hard score to win but she had faith in herself. Sammy stepped up to the floor with confidence, and gave everything her best shot, Sammy pulled off 5 flips in a row including walkovers which was a big step for her to complete them in a row without stopping. Sammy was proud of her performance as was Rachael; they nervously waited for the big moment which revealed wether Sammy had made it into the Olympics. The judges called out Sammy’s name, your score is…. 9.5, congratulations you have won and made it into the Olympics squad.
Sammy collected her trophy with pride and made a speech which explained that her dream was finally coming true and the 10 years of training and hard work paid off. Sammy has 3 years to train until her 1st competitions begin at the Olympics in London. Sammy’s parents couldn’t be happier for her friends who have also supported her 100% of the way.
Sammy is starting her dream by sticking with her coach Rachael, and they are moving to a bigger gym in Melbourne to make Sammy’s life become more successful in the future.