 By Caroline. |
By Caroline. |
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Ah! ...llana Slater! (page 2)
Floor remains her favourite piece, and her tumbling runs are of the highest standard: whip to triple twist; 2 1/2 twist into punch front in the straight position; double twisting front, and to finish, double pike back. However, it is her choreographical interpretation of the music which sets her apart from the rest. Before her music begins the Australian's beautiful face is impassive. As the first chords sound her face changes, becoming radiant. Allana's extrovert and flamboyant personality is thus expressed through a cleverly designed floor routine. "I was looking for a new piece of music, and wanted something different that had never been used before. I listened to loads of different compositions until finally I saw the film Moulin Rouge with the actress Nicole Kidmann, an Australian like me!" she jokes. "I was immediately enraptured by this music." Allana has also been trained in classical dance. When she was younger she had to choose between dance and gymnastics. Nonetheless she continues to include dance lessons in her hours of training and goes regularly to the theatre. Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera are two of her favourite plays. In the last two years her routines haven't fundamentally changed but have become more powerful. So on vault she performs a difficult Yurchenko 1 1/2 twists; on bars she shows a Jaeger release, Pak salto, hop full twist followed by a Gienger and a full-in back out dismount. Her beam exercise contains a dazzling array of difficult moves (one handed backflip, full-twisting backflip, Rulfova and the Onodi, to name but a few). Allana possesses technical prowess, speed of execution, excellent co-ordination and a fighting spirit.  The year 2002 was particularly fruitful: in March she was runner-up in the Australian Nationals, in July she won the tournament China v. Australia and she won a string of five medals out of a possible six at the Commonwealth Games. "The Commonwealth Games are very important for our country, it's a symbolic event, but from a purely athletic viewpoint the medals obtained there don't have the same value because the big powerhouses of gymnastics don't take part. A victory at a World Cup meet such as Bercy reflects your true potential. If you win here, you can envisage winning a World Championship final. Thanks to the big tournaments I compete at, I'm gaining experience and confidence." At Bercy she finished second on beam. "I'm a little disappointed that I didn't qualify for floor but I'm really happy with my performance on beam. To finish second and behind Andréa Raducan is encouraging to say the least!" The Australian intended to complete her preparation for Debrecen in Marseilles, France, where she would participate at the the Massilia Gym Cup (she finished second overall and on beam, third on bars and fourth on floor.) During our second interview Allana chattered just as much and raved about her weeks spent in France. "Everyone was lovely to me! The Marseilles gymnasium is really well equipped, I was lucky to be able to add the final touches to my routines here." Unfortunately the Apparatus World Championships were not a success for the Australian. Rendered less fit by an injury to her ankle several days before competition, Allana did not get past the qualification stage. The gymnast who could have laid claim to two finals had to be content with the lower placings. The disappointment was a little mitigated by her bronze medal in the floor finals of the World Cup the following week. Here's hoping that this friendly and likeable gymnast will have lots of success in 2003, and as she says in her own optimistic words: "Go for it, believe in yourself and listen to your heart". |
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