My Trip to The Pacific Alliance Championships

Read an article that I wrote for a newsletter on the Pacific Alliance Champs

Pictures coming soon!

I went to 5 sessions of the 2000 Pacific Alliance Champs in Christchurch, N.Z.

Men's All Around and Team, Rhythmic All Around (Hoop and Roop), (Ribbon and Ball), Women's All Around, Women's Apparatus Finals (Vault and Bars)

Men's All Around and Team:

I arrived at Westpac Stadium like an hour early to get good seats. They were selling some really nice Alpha Factor leotards but I didn't buy any coz I didn't have enough money with me. When I got there the Japanese girls were having lunch so I asked for their autographs, they seemed really nice but we didn't say much to each other because they didn't understand much English. Finally the doors opened and me and my sister went to find the best seats we could. There was a section of seats which were closer to the competition floor than the others so we decided to sit there but we were told by security that we couldn't sit there (It turned out those seats were saved for VIPs, the International Gymnast people and stuff were sitting there.) Anyway we got the 2nd best seats in the stadium (we were about 2m above the gymnasts when they were waiting for floor.) Heaps of the women's teams including the Canadians were sitting in the stands so I got more autographs, all the gymnasts were really sweet. Then the opening ceremony started but most of the gymnasts didn't know they were meant to be in it and were still sitting in the stands so they got told to join the ceremony. There was still no sign of the USA or Australian girls. I'd been told that the Australian girls hadn't arrived for the training sessions. All the other teams were there though and I got out my USA sign and yelled out for USA even though the rest of the crowd was pretty quiet. There was an aerobics display at the start of the competition but Bai Chunyue was so tiny and she couldn't see it over the heads of all the other gymnasts so she they had to move for her. I cheered for almost every USA routine and when the USA men's team were presenting themselves to the judges John Rotlisberger saw my sign and smiled at me! They were so close, I could hear everything they were saying. Blaine Wilson was listening to his music and chewing gum just like you see him do on TV. Like I had predicted Blaine won. A camera man filmed me with my sign and I got on TV 2 days later! The theme song was "Larger than Life" by the Backstreet Boys and I used to think it was cool, but they used it as marching music, so after 4 days I was really sick of it. I took photos but unfortunately the film broke because I didn't know how to use the camera properly and couldn't get it out.

Rhythmic All Around (Hoop and Roop)

I got my same seat again. This time some of the men's teams were in the stands and I got autographs again. Rhythmic gymnastics is really a beautiful sport, the leotards were cool and some of the stuff that they did was amazing. I was really impressed with the girls from China and Phillipines. I always though that rhythmic gymnastics didn't take much work but these girl were great, they were so graceful and very flexible. I was mainly cheering for Jessica Howard coz she's one of my favourites, but all the girls were pretty great. The N.Z girls were better than I had expected but they made a few mistakes and I could tell that they were inexperienced. After they finished competing the USA girls (Jessica, Lindsey and Stefanie) went and sat with there parents in the stands. I wanted to ask for their autographs but I felt mean because they were probably tired and wanting to be with their parents. but then some little girls asked for their autographs so I joined them, thinking "this is my only chance because I'll probably never see them again." I wished them luck for the next day and they seemed really nice.

(Ribbon and Ball)

Was pretty much the same as the other session only I couldn't enjoy it as much because I broke my film and was scared that Dad was going to yell at me (he did) coz he had bought an expensive film especially for me. I love the way they do back walkovers and coming back down with the ball underneath them. The Chinese Taipei men had seen my USA sign and made a Chinese Taipei sign, so I wasn't the only one with a sign anymore.

Women's All Around

This was really cool! There was a lot more people there then there had been at all the other sessions, I had to rush to get my seat. All the girls were so focused,  I don't know how they can be when they're marching to the Backstreet Boys. It was great to see my idols just a few meters away. Bela, Martha, Kelli Hill, Mary Lee and Valery Luikin were there too. Bela is exactly the way people say he is, I couldn't believe I was in the same. Bai Chunyue is even shorter in person than she is on TV, if it wasn't for her hair she'd be shorter than the vault. Amy Chow is still great on bars, she got a 9.775. It must be great for her to finally be a crowd favourite. Vanessa was great too, especially on vault, considering she just had a huge bone chip taken out of her ankle! Her bar routine was good, she's a lot more confident now, but it obviously didn't have a high start value because she scored in the high 8s. USA had a great team on bars- Morgan, Amy, Elise and Vanessa. I cheered for USA louder than ever and Elise Ray saw my sign too and smiled at us.  Laura Robertson (NZ's Olympic representative) has grown her hair long and I didn't recognise her at first. All of the N.Z girls have improved a lot since I last saw then at the Nationals, where all of them fell on beam at least once. I met this girl Melanie, who probably knew more about gymnastics than me, which was great because most people in N.Z don't even know Nadia. We talked about what's going on in the gymnastics world and cheered for USA together. I also met an American girl who was on the same flight as the Australians, she told me that Aussie girls had trouble getting their mini bar through security. I know how much it meant for USA to win this and to beat the Aussies so I was so proud of them and nearly cried when the USA anthem was played. I American girls sang the anthem with hands over their hearts- I love the pride that they have in their country.

Women's Apparatus Finals (Vault and Bars)

I saw Alethea Boon at the mall, but I didn't get her autograph because I didn't have a pen. Denise Lopez won vault, it's great to see that see still so good, although she's been around since before the 92 Olympics. I loved the USA girls new leotard. After the vault finals we moved to be nearer to the bars and we ended up right above where the USA girls and coaches were. We briefly talked to them and said bye when we left. Bela saw our sign and smiled at us, I think he's the best coach ever- he's amazing. I wanted to say something to him but I was kind of scared that he might yell at us. I think Amy should've won bars because she got a 9.775 in the AA and she didn't make that mistake again so she deserved at least 9.775 but she only got 9.6 or something. I'm not happy with that rule that says that only 2 from each country can be in each final, even if more than 2 qualify. It lowers the standard of gymnastics. I mean because only 2 from each country could be in the vault final some people got in that had pretty low start values and nearly no chance of winning, also this meant that Morgan couldn't compete on bars and she's so good on that apparatus.