Kieran Behan qualifies for Floor final at Test Event
Kieran Behan last night secured a place in the Floor Final at the London Prepares Test Event.
With a score of 14.800, the Irish gymnast placed 6th on Floor apparatus, securing a place in the final and also scored the joint highest execution score of the day on Floor (with Dan Purvis from GB who qualified in 1st).
Kieran placed 59th over-all and is still hopeful for Olympic qualification.
His coach, Simon Gale, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to bits, it’s absolutely incredible. We consider this an amazing achievement to get this far, especially when so many other Countries having a stronger pedigree in gymnastics haven’t got this far. We know we have apparatus final and we think we have got a shot at the Olympics too.”
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 and Gymnastics Ireland for helping me through to this point. Winning world cup gold on floor and then the Challenge series has been amazing. This event is now the icing on the cake.”
Ireland qualified for a place at the Test Event after the World Championships in Tokyo and CEO at Gymnastics Ireland, Ciaran Gallagher, said: “This is a fantastic result. Gymnastics Ireland is at a very exciting stage in its development, with a lot of promise for the future and Kieran Behan has just made this time even more exciting.”
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 and will wait patiently to find out if he has done enough to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.