Gymnastics Achievements
Achievements and highlights
The AIS Gymnastics program has always been at the forefront of Australian success. In 1988, Ken Meredith won Australia's first-ever apparatus and all-around gold medal at an international event. In 1991, the AIS contributed the majority of team members to the historic sixth place at the 1991 World Championships in the United States. Great names such as Monique Allen, Kylie Shadbolt, Lisa Read and Julianne Monico, all AIS gymnasts, competed in Australia's first-ever team to qualify for an Olympic Games in 1992. Australia's meteoric rise from twenty-third to sixth place in 1991 was guided by the AIS and the vision of Women's Head Coach Ju Ping Tian.
The very first Australian World Championship finalist was Julianne Monico, who placed seventh at the 1992 World Championships in Paris. The women's team maintained their Olympic team qualification in 1996 and male AIS gymnasts Brennon Dowrick and Bret Hudson also produced outstanding results. Brennon was a 1996 Olympic all-around finalist, and Pacific Alliance pommel horse and high bar champion.
In 1997, Brennon Dowrick, Bret Hudson and Andrei Kravtsov were in the men's team that placed second behind China in the 1997 Pacific Championships, defeating the United States and Japan. Andrei Kravtsov continued the men's profile, ranking nineteenth in the world, and bringing home five gold medals from the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
In recent years, AIS scholarship holders have reached new levels in the sport. Philippe Rizzo placed second on the horizontal bar to win the first-ever individual world medal by an Australian gymnast at the 2001 World Championships. Philippe continued his dominance of this event by taking out the silver medal on the horizontal bar at the 2002 World Cup. Not to be upstaged, AIS senior female gymnast Jacqui Dunn also won the silver medal on the uneven bars at the 2002 World Cup.
At the Manchester Commonwealth Games, the Australian men's team, which included Philippe Rizzo, Justin Ng and Pavel Mamine, won the bronze medal. Philippe was second all-around, third on floor, first on pommel, first on parallel bars and first on the horizontal bar. Pavel was fifth on rings and sixth in vault. Justin was eighth on pommel.
The Australian women's team included AIS athletes Alexandra Croak and Jacqui Dunn who performed strongly, helping take out the team gold. Jacqui won the bronze medal on the beam and Alexandra was silver-medal winner on the vault.
The past 20 years have seen AIS gymnasts climb the world rankings and now the AIS produces world championship finalists and medal winners. It is hoped that Olympic medals are not too far away.
