Hollie has grabbed bronze in the All-Around Competition at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, behind 2005 World Championship medallists Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel (both of the USA. She scored a massive 16.000 on balance beam and totalled 60.550 over the four apparatus in what NBC's commentators loosely termed her "coming out party". There were no shortage of compliments coming from all sides during the competition, including one from Peggy, who says she's had her eye on Hollie for 10 years now - "what makes Hollie so different is that she is the prima ballerina. She's not part of the corps, she's the prima ballerina." Our senior Australian team also did extremely well, placing second in the team competition behind a much more experienced team USA.
Results:
Senior Team
1. USA 183.150 2. Australia 177.050 3. Canada 172.050
I am working at putting videos of the event up, however for now visit GGMB at gymgossip.com/index for all links to NBC's coverage!!!
22nd March, 2006
Hollie has finished the games with two gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal after a fantastic night two of Event Finals. She grabbed the silver on balance beam and the gold on floor exercise following solid, exquisite routines on both. Teammate Ashleigh Brennan put in a great performance on floor to take the silver behind Hollie, making it Australia 1-2. After the competition Hollie told Channel Nine that she was "very proud" of how far she's come, and "so excited about the great atmosphere in the crowd" (which was a sell-out crowd of 10,000 and included the Prime Minister and his wife). Congratulations to Hollie and the Australian MAG and WAG teams for their impressive performances at the 2006 Commonwealth Games!!!
19th March, 2006
Credit: Getty Images SEE 'Gallery' for more photos
Last night Hollie took out the Bronze medal in the Women's All Around final, despite falls on every apparatus. Her near perfect technique and world-class artistry (which has been the talk of the games) throughout the rest of the routine bought her home to third place, demonstrating her hugely competitive potential. Congratulations Hollie!!! And of course, congratulations to fellow Aussie Chloe Sims, who was crowned All Around Champion after a great performance on each apparatus. Chloe is another of Australia's rising stars. She has very high difficulty and lots of charisma so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future. Well done girls!
RESULTS:
1. AUS Chloe Sims 57.100 2. CAN Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs 57.100 (2nd after tie break rule) 3. AUS Hollie Dykes 55.800 4. ENG Imogen Cairns 55.750 5. ENG Shavahn Church 55.000
Australia have swept the field in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games women's team event, taking gold by 8.25 points (172.600) ahead of England (164.350) and Canada (162.550). A remarkable performance by such a young and relatively inexperienced team saw the Aussies placed first on every apparatus after four rotations. Hollie has had quite a few mentions on TV and in the media as the 'rising star' of Australian gymnastics, after a stunning beam routine (15.500) and a ranking of first going in to the AA final. Peggy Lidick said that she is "the most technically precise gymnast Australia has ever seen". World Championship bronze medallist Monette Russo also put in an amazing performance, hitting all four apparatus with no hint of the injury that has kept her out of training for some weeks. She looked very confident and enthusiastic as the team leader and has qualified 2nd to the AA final behind Hollie. Congratulations to Monette Russo, Hollie Dykes, Ashleigh Brennan, Naomi Russell and Chloe Sims!!!
Hollie on floor. CREDIT: Getty Images
To see more photos of podium training and competition visit www.nkphotos.co.uk
RESULTS:
1. Australia 172.600 2. England 164.350 3. Canada 162.550 4. Wales 158.750 5. Scotland 156.450 6. South Africa 155.000 7. New Zealand 151.550 8. Malaysia 141.950 9. Bermuda 134.950 10. India 129.400
14th March, 2006
Rod Laver Arena:
Hollie and her teammates are currently in Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games! They are staying in the athletes village and no doubt are very excited about the week ahead. Podium training begins tonight, with competition for the women commencing with the team final on Friday night. Make sure you watch Channel 9's extensive coverage of the games to catch all the gymnastics action! For those of you who are not in Australia, videos of Hollie and her teammates at the games will be posted as soon as they are avaliable.
6th March, 2006
More congratulations must go to Hollie who has been chosen for the Pacific Alliance team, along with Monette Russo, Monique Blount, Dasha Joura, Ashleigh Brennan, Lauren Mitchell, Jasmine Webb and Britt Greely. The 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships are being held from the 13th-15th April in the USA. Stay tuned for results!!!
13th February, 2006
After a lifetime of hard work to get there, Hollie has been named as a member of the 2006 Commonwealth Games team!!! Hollie will be joined by World Championship bronze medallist Monette Russo, and rising stars Ashleigh Brennan, Naomi Russell, Chloe Sims. Monique Blount has been named reserve. Well done to all girls!
Sorry about the lack of updates on Hollie everyone!!! A lot has happened since the 21st of September. Hollie was awarded AIS Female Gymnast of the Year at a presentation dinner held last saturday night. She has also made the 2006 Commonwealth Games Squad!!! So many big congratulations to Hollie!!! Joining Hollie in the 2006 Commonwealth Games Squad are:
In even bigger news, Monette Russo won Australia's first ever individual Womens Artistic Gymnastics World Championships medal on the 25th of November 2005 in her own hometown of Melbourne! Russo placed third behind Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin, both of the United States of America. A massive congratulations to Monette who really did our country proud!!!! I was there and it was an AMAZING night, the audience was 10,000 strong and extremely rowdy (in a positive way), cheering Monette all the way through to the final apparatus, floor. I couldn't help but notice the men walking up and down the aisles carrying meat pies and sausage rolls. It was just like a football match!! It was great. Not only this, but Channel Seven featured four days of live coverage of the World Championships, something I know a LOT of people were grateful for. And mind you that's not just "gym people" either. The championships generated large audience numbers for channel seven so hopefully we will see more coverage in the future! Of course, Hollie and teammates were at the championships to experience the atmosphere. It no doubt inspired them to keep working towards their goals.
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