15-year-old Emma Slevin competes in final with sore foot for Team Ireland at Youth Olympics
Two finals last night at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina produced two top-eight finishes for Team Ireland.
Emma Slevin finished eighth in both the vault and the uneven bars today, having performed outstandingly to qualify for the final.
Slevin achieved a score of 12.833 in the vault and 12.600 in the bars, with solid clean performances.
Happy with her performance, Slevin pointed out that she was competing with a sore foot in the finals today.
She said: “It’s been okay, I struggled a bit with my foot. I hurt it in the warm-up of the vault, but I pushed through and I did it, so I’m happy.”
Fifteen-year-old Slevin has had one of the most gruelling schedules at the Youth Olympic Games this week, having competed in six out of the seven days of competition so far.
She said: “It’s tiring but sure everyone’s the same – none of us are used to it. But it’s a good challenge for all of us.”
Reflecting on how she has dealt with the schedule she said: “If you get tired, that doesn’t have to affect your performance if you are five days into a competition it can be just as good as the first.”
Competition continues for Slevin on the 15th October with the finals in the balance beam.
In the diving, Tanya Watson finished fifth in the Women’s 10m Platform event.
The Southampton-born diver, with family in Derry, finished the Preliminary Round in sixth place and moved into fifth in the Finals with a score of 362.45.
All divers progressed to the finals with their best four dives of eight being added to the four dives later in the day.
Tanya said: “This afternoon I did four dives, and I did eight this morning.
“The first four dives from this morning were carried through, so it was important that I perform them well this morning, and they went well. My first dive this evening was better than this morning, so I was happy with that.
“I improved in my score from the Preliminary by just under 10 points so that was a bonus as well, it was nice to improve from Preliminary to Final, because that’s what you’re hoping to do.”
Watson’s coach Jack Crewlow was pleased with how she went.
He said: “Tanya has had a fantastic day overall, she dived very strongly in the Preliminary this morning, we are delighted with her performance overall.”
Next up for Watson is the mixed team event.
Team Ireland had a phenomenal day on the golf course, with the pairing of Lauren Crowley Walsh and David Kitt finishing in fifth with a seven-under-par 63 in the mixed team four-ball stroke play.
They compete tomorrow again, in the mixed team foursomes.
