Flukey Falls: Daniel Keatings explains 2011 World Championships Tokyo performance
The World Gymnastics Championships 2011 were not a laudable event for all the participating teams. The event came with its own set of surprises and mysteries, and Daniel Keatings insists his performance is one of them.
Keatings, the first British gymnast to have won an All-round title at the Artistic World Championships in 2009, made history again this year but for entirely different reasons.
He displayed a less than perfect show with two embarrassing falls, namely, off the pommel horse and high bars.
Contrary to expectation, the rest of the British men’s team did not perform well either. Kristian Thomas made errors and Louis Smith’s progress to the pommel horse final was rendered void due to noncompliance with the new policies instated by the world governing
body.
The team had finished best-ever seventh in last year’s World Championships – a fact that leaves its crumbling form as an unwelcomed surprise to the fans and the audience.
Tim Jones, the British Gymnastics Olympic Performance Director, was disappointed. He believed that the team had made “significant progress” over the years, and deserved to have some “realistic hopes” as far as this competition was concerned.
However, he supported the team in a retrospective comment, claiming that the gymnasts had not underestimated the championship or the competing teams in any way. On the contrary, they knew that they were in for “a serious challenge”.
"However, we know that our gymnasts were not outclassed and they are a talented group who will rise to the challenge of qualifying for the London Olympic Games at the second qualification opportunity in January," Jones said.
Keatings, on the other hand, regards his performance with frustration and puzzlement. "It wasn't exactly like it was technical errors, it was just flukey errors," Keatings said. "I can't really explain what happened. But I'm annoyed it did happen".
The 21-year-old gymnast was one of Telegraph’s Ten to Watch for 2012, and has earned medals for the same events that he faltered in.
He won the All-round Silver Medal in April 2009 when he participated in the European Gymnastics Championships Milan. In the same year he had won a bronze in the Pommel Horse Final.
In April 2010, Keatings won the Senior European Championship gold medal on the pommel horse, granting Great Britain her first.
It is safe to say, Keatings is no amateur and has shown consistency in his performance over the years.
Affected by his failing performance at the World Gymnastics Championships, Keatings wrote a column for The Telegraph. The column clearly depicts his remorse.
In his write up he reveals that he had been looking forward to the Worlds since it was his first global tournament after he recovered from a major knee injury.
The injury required at least 9 months healing and Keatings gave it its due healing period, only to return to the scene almost a year later.
He claims that his preparation for the Worlds had gone well, so the falls have him searching for the reason. Despite watching the recordings of his performance this year, he was unable to pick out any technical errors.
However, he seems to have set aside the frustration for the test events and counts it as a bonus. He believes the test event will give him and his team a chance to have a dry-run at the 2012 Championship apparatus.
This will serve as an advantage since it will lend them familiarity with the equipment, which is an important contributor in a seamless performance.
“Our objectives are clear: we need to get the team qualified for the Olympics at the test event. Then once our place at the Games is booked we need to work on how we operate as a team as that’s a crucial aspect,” Keatings wrote.
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