The other three medals were won by the Isle of Man.Two Bermudans in particular, Kalena Astwood and the diminutive Brittany Repose, were in terrific form, with Astwood winning gold on the beam and floor, plus silver on the vault, and Repose winning two silvers, on asymmetric bars and beam, plus bronze on vault.The gold on asymmetric bars was won by Bermuda’s Mornay Piper and gold on vault by Manx girl Danielle O’Neill.
Bermuda’s Casey Lopes won silver on asymmetric bars.Both islands have a gymnasium of their own plus professional coaches, Russian Gennady Tsyganov in the Isle of Man and Walid Mustafa in Bermuda.While Mustafa was confident that his girls would do well in three of the disciplines, he was worried that either Jersey or the Isle of Man would win on the floor.’I’ve seen their girls in practice, and they’re very good, very neat,’ he said afterwards.
‘For some reason they seemed tired when they came to the competition.
I’d only got us down at the most for one medal.
I feel I’ve dodged a bullet.’None of the Jersey girls disgraced themselves and there were some excellent displays – particularly on floor – where Sam Logan came sixth with 7.4.
Bronze went to the Isle of Man’s Danielle O’Neill with 7.45.
Seventh was Nicola Booth with 7.35 and 11th Lauren McEwan with 7.2.
On the asymmetric bars Jessica Marrett was eighth with 5.7, 0.5 of a point ahead of McEwan, with 5.65.
On the beam Logan was 12th with 6.05 while McEwan was 14th with 5.725.
On the vault McEwan was the first Jersey girl, in tenth place, with 7.45, ahead of 14th-placed Sophie Marshman, with 7.35.As captain of the Jersey team McEwan, who is off to university in September, wasn’t too disappointed by her team’s performance, recognising that for the first time Island Games’ gymnastics have attracted a team of Commonwealth Games standing.She was also nursing an ankle injury which made the vault especially painful to complete.
And there was a consolation prize at the end of yesterday’s competition, when the Bermudan coach, who on Monday had been critical of some of the judges’ marking on the floor, invited all of the competing islands’ gym clubs (plus judges) to a three-week summer camp in Bermuda next summer.
He wanted to be a catalyst, he said, to make certain the standard of Island Games gymnasts got better every two years; a point much appreciated by Jersey’s general manager, Arthur Falle, who said it was a tremendous opportunity and one he would certainly look into.
