Balancing study and training commitments is a trick many elite athletes learn to perfect, but Danielle Prince has it down to a fine art.
The first-year Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management student is one of the country’s top rhythmic gymnasts – using her impressive flexibility, strength and coordination to help Australia win its first Commonwealth Games team gold in the event last month.
The competition venues presented some unique challenges for athletes in Delhi – bats flew overhead in the training gym while grasshoppers and moths competed for the attention of the appreciative local crowds.
“The crowd was amazing and the stadium practically full so it made for a fantastic atmosphere and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” Ms Prince said.
“Every little move or difficulty we performed was greeted with a roar of appreciation. It actually helped me to relax a little and enjoy my routines, rather than let the nerves take hold.”
For the team event three gymnasts per country each completed routines with rope, hoop, ball and ribbon, with the top 10 scores counting towards the final tally.
After some small errors earlier in the night, Ms Prince performed one of the best routines of her life to help seal the historic victory.
“I walked on to the floor and I was like: ‘I want this, I know how badly I want this, and I’m going to do it’. And I did it, I did the best ball routine I’ve ever done. It was definitely very exciting
and very fulfilling to walk off that floor knowing that I had done my best.”
In a sport where scores are measured to a thousandth of a point, the Australian team won by a commanding margin over minor medallists Canada and England.
Ms Prince said the result came on the back of success at the world championships in Moscow a fortnight earlier, where Australia had achieved the highest placing of any Commonwealth country.
And there’s a clear incentive to keep pleasing the judges – the top-ranked gymnast from Oceania will automatically qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.
Training six days a week to achieve her goals, Ms Prince said there was a nice link between her studies in event management and participating in international competitions which required immense organisation and planning.
“I came back from Delhi really motivated and inspired and I’m aiming for 2012 as well as 2014 for another Commonwealth Games,” she said.
Fellow UQ students and alumni also put in stellar performances in Delhi, with business management graduate Alana Boyd claiming gold in the pole vault.
Ms Boyd completed a unique trifecta to stand on top of the medal dais, joining her mother Denise (the 200m Commonwealth champion from 1978) and her father Ray (the 1982 pole vault gold medallist) to add to the family’s medal tally.
Swimmer Leith Brodie grabbed the bronze in the 200m individual medley, with Beijing Paralympian Blake Cochrane placing third in the 100m freestyle and 5th in the 50m event.
Graduate and Paralympic veteran Hamish MacDonald launched himself to bronze in the shot put, with alumnus and three-time Great Court Race winner Mitch Kealey making the final of the 1500m on the track.
Also competing in Delhi were veterinary science student and weightlifter Amanda Phillips, and international student Hanika Patel, who represented Kenya in swimming.
This story is featured in the December 2010 edition of UQ News. Download the pdf here.
Media: Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
