Friday 30 October 2015
Glasgow’s disability gymnasts put on a stunning show to set the stage for the men’s All-Around final of the FIG 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, as gymnastics fever continues to sweep the nation.
Proving that Glasgow is home to a huge wealth of gymnastic talent, the City of Glasgow gymnastics troop took to the floor to wow the 6000-strong crowd, raising the roof at the SSE Hydro with a gravity-defying artistic display to open Friday’s spectacular showdown.
Led by Special Olympics World Games All-Around champion Georgia Carslaw, the team of six strutted their stuff in front of the enthusiastic crowd, paving the way for the world’s top twenty-four men to compete for the medals.
Eighteen year old team member Georgia, is no stranger to performing on the world stage. Fresh from her success at the 2015 Special Olympics Championships in Los Angeles earlier this year, where her medal haul included a whopping three gold medals, plus one silver and one bronze, the current disability World Champion performed a breath-taking routine alongside her team mates to dazzle the packed Hydro crowd.
Hailing from Castlemilk in the Southside of the city, Georgia, who has autism spectrum disorder, a condition that affects social interaction, communication and behaviour, has been competing on the international stage since 2011.
The talented gymnast also dedicates her free time to working as a volunteer coach with young gymnasts at the City of Glasgow Gymnastics Club and cites three-time World Champion Beth Tweddle as her sporting hero.
Georgia said: “It was really fun tonight, and we’re all really looking forward to performing again tomorrow and Sunday. I’ve been really enjoying watching the Championships so far and I hope more people have a go at gymnastics, even if they don’t want to compete and just want to keep fit and have fun with it.”
Based within the purpose built gymnastics centre at Glasgow Club Bellahouston, the City of Glasgow Gymnastics Club supports talented athletes aged five and over, from grassroots to elite level, including over 50 disabled gymnasts.
Creating life-changing opportunities for disabled gymnasts to shine and develop confidence and self-esteem, the City of Glasgow disability squad, coached by Angela Turner, enables people with disabilities to fully access gymnastics at an appropriate level, by adapting key skills.
Angela said: “We have a dedicated disabilities section within the Club, offering basic, development and recreational classes plus performance groups, and our classes cater for all disabilities in an integrated setting alongside our mainstream groups.
“It’s amazing for the group to be invited to perform at the World Gymnastics Championships, as it shows that gymnastics is accessible to people with lots of different kinds of needs.”
The Club also boasts an alumnus that includes five of the talented Team Scotland Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games gymnasts.
If you’ve got gymnastics fever and fancy having a taste of the ‘Worlds’ action for yourself, a limited number of tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s finals are available from our website here.