Gymnast Newman-Achee overcomes adversity on Worlds debut

Trinidad and Tobago gymnast Annalise Newman-Achee overcame adversity on her debut at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England, on Sunday.

Prior to her performance, Newman-Achee had a “scary fall” from the uneven bars during a training session which resulted in her being placed under medical observation for 24 hours.

A statement issued by the TT Gymnastics Federation (TTGF) on Tuesday said that, at that time, it was uncertain whether she would have been allowed to compete.

It read, “In true Annalise fashion, she pulled through, and went on to compete with aggression, grace and pride, apparent in her floor routine and on the vault, competing routines with a new level of difficulty, and achieving an all-around score of 43.599.”

Her fall, however, was compounded by the very recent memory of being unable to compete at her best on the uneven bars at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July because of apparatus height restrictions.

Following that event, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) granted TTGF’s request to allow the uneven bars to be raised an additional five centimetres above the FIG apparatus norms to accommodate her routine at the World Championships since Newman-Achee is an “unusually tall gymnast.”

“Annalise and her coaches have expressed their immense gratitude to the TTGF for believing in her and for giving her the opportunity to represent TT, her father’s homeland, at the FIG’s most prestigious event.

“Annalise now returns to her gym full of enthusiasm and experience to continue her training so that she may be considered to represent TT in any upcoming regional and international events of 2023.”

This year’s championships fielded a competitive line-up of teams and individuals since this was the first time gymnasts had to earn the right to compete at the World Championships via events such as the FIG World Cup Series and Continental Championships.

These qualifiers also included this year’s Pan American Senior Championships where Newman-Achee gained qualification with a solid all-around performance of 46.266.

Additionally, on the weekend, a contingent from Olympia Gymnastics Academy, a TTGF-registered club, travelled to Panama to participate in the COPA IGA International Gymnastics Meet.

Fifteen TT gymnasts, competing from the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics beginner level to level eight, accompanied by their coaches Dale and Nanda Ali, flew to Panama City to compete in this annual club competition.

The TTGF commended Olympia Gymnastics Academy for taking the initiative to expose local gymnasts to the regional competition despite the sport being shut down for the last two years due to the pandemic.

“This also augurs well for the return to our own TTGF competitive season scheduled to begin early next year and to culminate in our 2023 National Invitational Championships.

“We look forward to receiving the report from this event, along with the exciting news of the athletes’ performances and their awards.”