Gymnast and Sky Scholar Sam Oldham sweating on selection for European Championships
Friday 24 March 2017 13:29, UK
Gymnast Sam Oldham starred at the English and British Championships over the last two weeks, but will it be good enough for a place in the team for the European Championships in France in April?
Eight months after his shocking injury at the Commonwealth Games, the Sky Academy Sports Scholar has been back in action performing his magic on all six apparatus.
Podium finishes in Loughborough and Liverpool will have impressed the selectors and this week the 22-year-old from Nottingham will find out if he's on the plane to Montpellier. It's the latest step in Sam's journey towards qualification for the Olympics in Brazil next year.
Here's Sam's latest blog on his dramatic battle for qualification, his fight to stay fit and his quest to reign in the Game of Thrones!
It was a long weekend but I'm just happy to still be in one piece!
The British Championships are a prestigious event in gymnastics and are always used as a key selection competition for major championships. This year is no different and with European places up for grabs, the competition was always going to be tough.
If I want to be one of the best High Bar workers in the world now is the time to start pushing this routine
It always seems to be incredibly cold heading up to Liverpool each year in March and there were plenty of Game Of Thrones ('winter Is coming...') related jokes flying around, as my team-mates and I made the trip up north.
The venue is awesome! It wasn't that long ago that we were lucky to get 200 watching a men's gymnastics event, so to sell out an arena such as the Echo is testament to the success of gymnastics in this country over the past two Olympic cycles.
The competition started late so it was a day chilling in a hotel room watching Breaking Bad and recovering. I began the event on Pommel Horse which is a notoriously hard piece of apparatus to start on.
It's challenging when under pressure to keep calm on this event so I have to say I was a little nervous heading into the first routine. However, I did a good solid job and 14.60 was a a great way to start. Next was the Rings and I did a good clean routine. The score was 14.450 which I was a little disappointed with.
Gymnastics is a subjective sport and that is the beauty of it. One day a routine can get awarded a 15.4, the next a 14.9. I quickly focused on the next event - the Vault.
Frustration here. I just tried to land too well. One split second on an apparatus like the vault and it can all change. I put my hand down to the side and counted a fall. It was a big blow to my all-round hopes (six apparatus scores count towards the all-round title).
I knew we were half-way and anything could still happen. The Parallel Bars was another solid routine for a 15.10.
High Bar next and it was always going to be a risk at this point with this routine. The first release and catch skill the Cassina and I miss the bar! I finished the routine off well but I knew at this point my chance had gone.
It's a very hard routine. When I hit, it's a 7.0-7.2 start value which gives you the opportunity to come away with a massive score. But it's a very new routine and is going to take a while to master. It is completely worth it though and if I want to be one of the best high Bar workers in the world, now is the time to start pushing this routine.
I've competed in training consistently in the last two weeks and it's now about trying to get as many numbers done as I can. The final piece and the floor went well and my ankle held up - a solid 14.50 and a big improvement on the English Championships.
I finished third in the all-around, second on Pommel Horse and second on the Rings. The Championships left me feeling disappointed. I was as ready as I could be, but I wasn't good enough on the day.
Reflecting on the weekend, it was amazing to compete in six apparatus in what is still a short period since my surgery. I began training floor and vault in January so to be competing them in March is a huge positive.
Now I have to wait on the European selection and hope that I have made the team. With so many awesome gymnasts in this country right now, it gets increasingly harder to make teams each year!
I want to say a massive thanks to my family, my coach, my supporters and to Sky for the continued belief and confidence they have in me. Now it's a day chilling out and recovering, then back to the gym to work hard on improving my routines once more! Thanks guys, speak to you soon.
Sam Oldham is one of 11 athletes being supported through the Sky Academy Sports Scholarships scheme.
The Scholarships offer a programme of support tailored to each athletes specific requirements covering areas such as funding, media coaching, mentoring and wider developmental support.
