DON'T FALL:.
Elora Austrup practises her balance beam routine for the upcoming gymnastics competition at the Ontario Winter Games. Elora finds competing fun, with her only goal not to fall.
Photo by Karen Longwell
Getting the boot from ballet may have been the best thing to happen to Port Sydney resident Elora Austrup. At three-years-old, she was a bundle of energy and too much to handle for the dignified dance troupe. Always jumping and swinging on the ballet bars, a broken mirror was the final straw.
A family friend suggested gymnastics may be the perfect fit and she was right.
“I started gymnastics and I was really good at it,” said Elora, now 11. “I mostly like the fun of it. I stay fit, learn new tricks and make new friends.”
But it’s not all fun. Elora trains 16 hours a week, which takes time away from her friends and her schooling at Tawingo College.
“The time commitment is a little extreme,” said Elora’s mom Carmen. “She misses birthday parties. She misses out on school.”
Every year at the end of the summer, the family asks Elora if she wants to continue with the competitive season. So far, the answer has been yes.
“Competing gives her purpose,” said Carmen. “There are days I want her to be part of the chess club … something easier. But when your kids have a thread of something, you just have to support them.”
The commitment has paid off and on March 5, Elora will be competing in the Ontario Winter Games in Women’s Artistic gymnastics at Muskoka Woods resort in Rosseau.
Elora trains with the Muskoka Limberettes, under coach Vivian Wright, who was recently awarded the Dr. Gene Sutton Special Achievement Award for distinguished contribution to the sport of gymnastics in Ontario from Gymnastics Ontario. A gymnastics coach for 35 years, Wright has seen her share of elite gymnasts.
“Elora will hold her own (at the winter games), no doubt about it. She is very competitive,” said Wright.
Women’s Artistic gymnastics is a team competition, so there are no individual awards. Elora will be on one of four teams of eight, divided according to the competitors’ home regions. Team members will compete in four events: uneven parallel bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
“Vault is my favourite,” said Elora, “because it is easiest and doesn’t take that much energy. It’s also really fun.”
Elora feels she excels most in her floor routine; however, Wright disagrees, stating the uneven bars are her strong suit.
“I pretty much like everything except beam,” Elora explained. “It’s the one I’m most nervous on. It’s really skinny and if you fall off, it’s a big deduction. My goal at the games is to not fall off the bars or the beam.”
The upcoming winter games have the young gymnast a little nervous and according to Wright, overcoming her nerves at competition is something they are working on.
“My last competition I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Elora, “and it made me do fantastic. If I just keep confident, I hope I will do good.”
If you miss the Ontario Winter Games gymnastics competition on March 5, Elora will also be participating in the Gymnastics Gala Demo on March 6.
The event will feature 20 provincial gymnasts and Muskoka Limberettes in Women’s and Men’s Artistic, Rhythmic, and Trampoline and Tumbling, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Bracebridge Sportsplex.