Kieran Behan qualifies for 2012 London Olympic Games
Irish Gymnast, Kieran Behan, has secured a place at the 2012 London Olympics Games, it was announced today.
Kieran competed in the qualifier at the London Visa International Test Event last night in the O2 arena and earlier this afternoon it was announced that he had secured a place at the Olympics.
The 22-year-old gymnast, who is sponsored by Stoi Athletic Wear, is “over the moon and delighted” with his performance and said: “I would like to thank my family, coaches and club for helping me through to this point. Winning 3 world cup medals on floor and being crowned overall World Cup Series Floor Champion has been amazing. Then Floor final at this event and now Olympic qualification. I’m over the moon.”
Kieran will compete tomorrow evening in the apparatus Floor final. With a score of 14.800, he qualified in 6th place and also scored the highest execution score of the day (scores are made up of a difficulty value and an execution value).
Ciaran Gallagher, CEO at Gymnastics Ireland, said: “It’s been 16 years since Ireland last had a gymnast at an Olympic Games – by qualifying for London 2012 Kieran Behan has put Ireland back on the Olympic map. Our organisation has been going through a radical modernisation overhaul since 2006 to build a governing body that can really drive the sport forward. We have made great strides in the past number of years, albeit in extremely difficult economic conditions, and the last piece of the puzzle was recently put in place with the launch of our Performance & Technical programme going into 2012, with this came an internal restructure and the appointment of Sally Filmer as Gymnastics Ireland’s Performance & Technical Manager.
"Kieran Behan has delivered for our sport in Ireland an Irish representative at the top performance sporting event on the planet. Gymnastics Ireland, in particular through Performance & Technical Manager Sally Filmer, is looking forward to working with and supporting Kieran and his coaching team with his preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.
"As one of the largest Olympic sports in Ireland, Kieran’s qualification will inspire the next generation of gymnasts in Ireland to aim for 2016 & beyond and further establish an identity of gymnastics in the minds of the general public as an Irish sport.
"Congratulations to Kieran, his coaching team & the delegation at the Test Event – you have done us all proud.
"Finally – the best of luck to Kieran in the Floor Final!”
Sally Filmer, Performance and Technical Manager at Gymnastics Ireland has been working closely with Kieran over the past months and along with his coaching team they devised a strategy for competition.
In recent months Kieran has won bronze, then silver, then gold at the Challenge World Cup Series on Floor, ultimately leading to him being crowned Over-All Floor Series Champion and now he has made Floor final at the London Test Event and qualified for the 2012 Games. With Kieran recently returning from injury in 2010, it makes the result even more gratifying.
Sally Filmer said: “A fantastic job by Kieran securing his Olympic place. This has come of the back of a fantastic year with such high achievements being made by Kieran in the World Cups. He is such an inspiration to sport as he has overcome so many obstacles. His strength of character has shone through and really shows that competing isn’t only about the physical ability but also the mental capacities. We are looking forward to the preparation now-such an exciting start to 2012.”
Coach, Simon Gale, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to bits, it’s absolutely incredible. We consider this an amazing achievement, especially when you consider so many other Countries having a stronger pedigree in gymnastics and haven’t got this far."
Kieran trains for up to thirty hours a week at Tolworth Gymnastics club in Surrey, coached by Simon Gale, Demetrios Bradshaw and Darren Gerrard.
Kieran will compete in the Floor apparatus final at the O2 arena on Thursday.
Videos of Kieran competing at the test event can be viewed on the Full Twist website.
For updates on Kieran’s performance at the Test Event Floor final tomorrow keep an eye on the Gymnastics Ireland Twitter, Facebook and website.