WG23
Great Britain Display Team
Our team, which is part of the National Display Team and World Team, have now performed in Amsterdam.The first rehearsal was in a wet Olympic Stadium and the first performance of the National
display with 818 gymnasts from 31 Clubs in Great Britain had to be postponed on Tuesday, as conditions were too slippery after torrential rain. An alternative time was found on
Friday.
The
first display was then the Wednesday performance and began really well, with loud cheering and clapping from the spectators. Then, the music stopped, the gymnasts carried on, singing the song and
continuing the routine, until the announcer asked them to stop and begin again. The second attempt went well until the same point in the music but the gymnasts kept going until they were stopped once
more. At their third attempt the routine went right through until the end and the audience roared their support.
The Thursday performance
went even better, music OK, brighter weather and a determination to get through.
Friday had better weather,
dryer, sunny at times and the routine was perfect, despite some of the gymnasts having to perform elsewhere, with their club as there were timetable clashes. All the remaining gymnasts sychronised
well, they kept in the changed patterns on the field and at the end, they were told that the president of the FIG ( the international governing body of gymnastics) had seen the routine and wanted
Great Britain to perform it as part of the closing ceremony on Saturday.
This was a great honour
and recognition of the precision and effectiveness of the routine. Restored to the full number of gymnasts, the routine was incredible. The change from everyone wearing blue hoodies and black
trousers to a spectacular array of coloured tee shirts was particularly effective and along the festival theme of "Show us Your Colours". Very fiting as Amsterdam also celebrated Pride Week while we
were there.
The World Team
The rehearsal for the
World Team comprising over 1800 gymnasts from 60 countries, was scheduled for Wednesday. The team had been separated inmto two equal sections. One to perform on the Wednesday midweek paerformance and
one at the Saturday closing ceremony. Both sections rehearsed and a change was made that both parts of the team would perform on both Wednesday and at the closing ceremony. They had learnt the routine from a video,
practiced for an hour, then performed.
The world team opened the
performances at the closing ceremony and they wre sensational. The coaches in clubs around the world had done a fantastic job and all the groups gelled together to thoroughly entertain the
spectators.
There was a short routine
and the Great Britain team were back onto the Stadium Field to wow the crowd with their precision and choreography.
Well done the Goole Gymnasts!