Great Britain’s women have made history at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool by winning the silver medal in the team event.
It is the best ever result for a GB team in an artistic event. They scored 163.363 points to finish behind USA who totalled 166.564. Winning the silver medal also means the team have secured their place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The team, made up of Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Jessica Gadirova, Jennifer Gadirover and Odine Achampong, heading into second place early on thanks to Achampong on the vault. They then managed to hold onto their position for the remainder of the competition.
A historic team 🥈 for the British ladies!!!
Congratulations!#WGC2022 pic.twitter.com/s6Twa1GKO2— European Gymnastics (@UEGymnastics) November 1, 2022
Some local schools had rejected the offer of free tickets for the World Championships at the M&S Arena but results like this can help inspire the next generation of gymnasts.
Team GB gymnast Saskia Servini said: “With the trampoline and tumbling world championships being held in Birmingham next year this will help increase spectators.
“Without spectators the sport cannot take the next step, so it is really important to get as many people watching and coming along as possible.”
The silver medal came as a surprise to Servini. She said: “A result like this in front of a home crowd will definitely encourage increased participation in the artistic gymnastics discipline.”
With a place at the Paris 2024 Olympics guaranteed, Servini said: “The success at the Commonwealth Games, where both the men’s and women’s teams were champions, alongside the success at the European Championships, points to their consistency. With less than two years until Paris 2024, GB are looking like strong medal contestants.”
Also going strong individually, Jessica Gadirova is in the vault final and she has also qualified for the all-around final with Alice Kinsella. The men’s team compete in the final today.
