Reaching the Bar

Chapter 3

Jennifer's POV

Competitions are manic. Especially one where everything is on the same day. We all have one routine on each apparatus and all the scores from all four apparatus are added together and the top 12 go through to the all-around final. The top eight from each apparatus go through to the apparatus final and they all compete again the one with the highest score wins.

It is hard so you could be performing each routine three times in one day. This is the times that all the extra training and running I do comes in handy. The men are even more stressed because they do more apparatus and so most of them if they qualify for all the finals they don't do them all.

Laura and I are the only ones from our team that start on the same apparatus and we start on the bars. I think that there are six people in each group and four groups in each section with two sections so 48 people or so.

Coach is running around everywhere so I get Chris to come and Coach me so that Coach has one less person to look after. Chris has seen me perform all my routine hundreds of times so he knows when something goes wrong.

Chris is one of the toughest Coaches I have ever had. We are really tough on each other. There is no point in tell someone that they did great when they didn't because then you don't get better.

I jump on the bar and start my routine. I notice a couple of mistakes in my routine but I was quite pleased with it. Chris hugs me when I get off and we start to go over my routine and talk about all the flaws.

I offer Laura some advice but I know that she won't take it. She looked clean on the bars but she didn't stick the landing. Coach came and told her a couple of things but he had to rush off and talk to someone else.

"You know that that the routine would have been better if you took my advice," I told her.

"You aren't always right," Laura snapped.

"Yeah but I know, but I know gymnastics and I know that I'm right."

"You're a bitch," she snapped.

I rolled my eyes at her. I pulled my wrist protectors off and pulled my tracksuit on and stretched on the floor. Laura pulls her own jacket on and joins me on the floor. I watch the rest of our group on the bars and mentally starting to run through my beam routine which is up next.

The morning session went well for me. I was the top qualifier for the all-around, the vault and the floor and made the final of the other apparatus.

The all-around was up first and we were split into two groups with Laura and Isabella in a group with me and we started on the vault and Claire and Kayla were in the other who started on the beam.

My vault is a very difficult vault and it is the first time I'm going to use it in a competition. It is the Amanar. It has a round off onto the spring board and then two and half twist before landing on the mat.

I started at the end of the vault and stared at it. I mentally ran through the vault once more before I started down the runway. The reason this vault can be very challenging is because you don't see the mat until right at the end because of the twists and it can be difficult.

I start the round off and my feet hit the springboard and I make sure to apply as much force a I can onto the board. My hands hit the table of the vault and then I start to twist. I love the feeling of being in the air but I don't have time to think about that as I have to start twist.

I see the mat and start to focus on the landing. My feet touch the ground and make sure to not stumble forward. I raise my hands above my hand and am so pleased when I realise that I pulled off the landing.