Tag: pacific island sports

Source: AAP

The elite gymnastics centre in Perth that produced former world champion Lauren Mitchell will be shut by the Western Australian Institute of Sport.

The move on the eve of the Rio Olympics to close the 28-year-old Women’s Artistic Gymnastics National Centre of Excellence at the end of the year was described as a huge blow for women’s sport by Gymnastics Australia.

The need to direct funds towards athletes and sports more likely to contribute to Australia’s international sporting success were cited by the WAIS as a reason for the decision.

“This factored amongst other things, national funding allocations and an assessment of the sport’s ability to contribute in the short to medium term, towards future targets,” WAIS executive director Steve Lawrence said.

He said it had been a difficult decision to make but would help maximise WA athlete opportunities within the available resources, to represent Australia.

The WA government-funded centre has produced nine Olympians, 10 Commonwealth Games representatives and several World Championship medals, says Gymnastics Australia.

It was currently training 60 women, including WA’s 2010 World Champion, Lauren Mitchell as well as top prospects for the 2020 and the 2024 Olympic Games, Gymnastics Australia president Jacqui Briggs-Weatherill said.

“This is a very cruel and short sighted decision by WAIS that if not reversed will end the Olympic ambitions of many young women in one of Australia’s fastest growing sports,” she said.

Australia was falling well behind the money spent by other competing nations on gymnastic high performance programs, including the UK spending four times the amount, she said.

Only one Australian artistic gymnast, Victorian Larrissa Miller was picked to compete at the Olympics and Mitchell missed out.

Elite training centres for artistic gymnasts operate in Melbourne and Canberra.

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One of the most respected digital sports content experts in the world, Adam Deutsch will share the secret to creating great international sports content in his keynote presentation at Mumbrella’s Sports Marketing Summit on July 28.

Deutsch, the US-based senior director of global digital strategy and sales for ESPN will talk about how they adapted their content offering to international markets.

He is among a host of top execs from the sporting codes, broadcasters and brands converging on Royal Randwick in Sydney to look at what the future holds for one of Australia’s most exciting industries.

You can hear from the likes of Tim Worner, CEO of Olympic broadcaster Seven West Media; Australian Paralympic Committee CEO Lynne Anderson; Optus’ head of sport Paul Rybicki, Michael Brown, the chief commercial officer for the NRL; Australian netballer Sharni Layton and top execs from the FFA, ARU, Big Bash League, Samsung, Holden and Nine Network.

Sessions include an exclusive inside view on the Big Bash League from boss Anthony Everard, one of the world’s top sports creatives Grant Baxter on how brands can get out of the 1970s marketing mindset, and a host of top players including Sportsbet and the advertising regulator on the future of sports betting advertising.

It is the only conference to let you hear directly from sportspeople with Australian cricketer Ed Cowan and Paralympic gold medalist Carol Cooke joining Layton in an exclusive Ask an Athlete session.

Plus hear from experts on how you can connect better with fans in stadium, build your fan base to multicultural communities, use data more effectively, and crash the Olympics and not get sued, plus much more besides.

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