Gymnastics Weekly News: Four-time Youth Olympic Games medallist Ellie Downie announces retirement
Plus, NCAA action enters week 4 and a look back at Team Brazil on floor at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
Artistic Gymnastics
2016 Olympian Ellie Downie of Great Britain has hung up her competition leotard and retired, she told fans this week in a post on her social media channels.
“With a heavy heart and an array of emotions, today is the day I announce my retirement from gymnastics!” wrote Downie. “To say it’s been a difficult decision is a massive understatement, but after a really tough last few years, I’ve made the decision to prioritise my mental health and happiness.”
Downie ends her storied career with four medals (one silver, three bronze) at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, two world bronze medals, and 10 European medals including Team GB’s first-ever all-around gold medal.
“Gymnastics has been my life for as long as I can remember and I’m proud of everything I was fortunate enough to achieve in the sport,” she wrote. “Competing and winning medals for Great Britain has meant everything and more to me and I’ll miss it enormously.”
Her contributions to gymnastics extend off the field of play, as well. In 2020, she and older sister Becky Downie spoke out about abuses in the sport to push for changes in training methods for current and future gymnasts.
Oklahoma, Florida, Michigan continue to lead the way as women's NCAA action enters week 4
With women's NCAA gymnastics in North America set for its fourth week of competition, there hasn't been much movement in the rankings as the University of Oklahoma, the University of Florida and the University of Michigan continue to hold the top three rankings nationally.
Individually, Florida's Trinity Thomas is the top-ranked in all-around, followed closely by Tokyo 2020 Olympic all-around gold medallist Sunisa Lee, who competes for Auburn University. The University of California at Los Angeles' Selena Harris is ranked third, with Olympic floor champion Jade Carey of Oregon State University fourth. 2021 world all-around runner-up Leanne Wong of Florida rounds out the top five.
Here are some match-ups to look forward to in week four:
27 January 2023:
- Georgia at Florida, 6pm ET
- Alabama at Kentucky, 7:30pm ET
- Minnesota at Iowa, 7:30pm ET
- LSU at Arkansas, 9pm ET
- Rutgers at Oregon State, 9pm ET
28 January 2023:
- Washington at Utah, 3pm ET
- Ohio State at Michigan, 4pm ET
- Stanford at Cal, 5pm ET
29 January 2023:
- Michigan State at Maryland, 1pm ET
- Oklahoma at Denver, 3pm ET
- Oregon State at UCLA, 6pm ET
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at Team Brazil on the floor exercise during qualifications from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. 2003 World women's floor champion Daiane dos Santos led the team with a 15.275, fifth overall, while the team finished seventh to advance to the team final.