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ALLANA SLATER
Allana Slater (born April 3, 1984 in Perth, Western Australia) is one of Australia's most successful female
gymnasts.
Slater originally trained at the Kalajos School of Gymnastics but it was not long before the talent scouts from the
Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) spotted the then 5-year-old Slater and invited her to join their elite
development program. She began training in the WAIS program just after her 6th birthday. Tragically, Slater's father Clive
was killed in a plane crash in Indonesia in 1997.
Slater made her national competition debut at the age of 9 and her international debut at 11. 1998 stands out as a
breakthrough year for Slater. At a dual meet against Japan while still a junior, she emerged as the all around champion,
recording her first major international victory over her more experienced and senior teammates as well as the best gymnasts
from Japan. A good performance at the World Youth Games followed and soon after a third place finish at the Australian
Commonwealth Games team trial. Slater soon found herself standing with her teammates on the podium in Kuala Lumpur
receiving Australia's first ever Commonwealth Games team gold medal. Individually Slater also won two silver medals in
the all around and floor exercise finals.
Since then, Slater and her Australian teammates have truly made their mark on the international gymnastics scene.
Their 5th place finish at the 1999 World Championships (ahead of 1996 Olympic Champions, U.S.) was a surprise to all
but supporters of Australian gymnastics. At the same competition, Slater earned the highest place individual world ranking
ever achieved by an Australian gymnast when she finished 9th in the individual all around.
In the most closely contested National Championship in Australian Gymnastics history, Slater pipped Trudy McIntosh
with her last event to win her first National title early in 2000. In July at the Olympic Trials, Slater performed flawlessly
to win the event and in doing so assured herself of a place on her first Olympic team. Slater and the Australian girls performed
well in the team competition to finish in 7th place, just missing the team final. Individually, Slater went on to compete
in the individual all around where she finished in 16th place. She was also asked to join the Olympic medalists in performing
in the post competition Gymnastics Gala.
While all but one of her Olympic teammates left Sydney contemplating retirement, Slater continued to train and compete,
returning to Europe at the end of the year to take part in the last two events on the World Cup Circuit. At the DTB Cup she
made history by winning Australia's first ever World Cup grand prix gold medal on the uneven bars. She also collected a
silver medal on floor.
2002 started with a bang for Slater when she won her second World Cup Grand Prix gold medal at the Cottbus event
on the floor in Germany. The Pacific Alliance Championships soon followed and Slater helped the Australian team to a
strong silver medal performance as well as picking up an individual silver medal on the floor exercise. At the Australian
Championships, she finished in second place overall just behind Alexandra Croak and won three of the four individual
apparatus titles. This event doubled as the first selection trial for the Commonwealth Games team and after a month-long
selection camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, Slater was named in her second Commonwealth Team.
As it had been in 1998, the Australian team was a mixture of youth and experience. The team entered the competition in
Manchester as hot favorites to defend the title they had won four years earlier and they did not disappoint. With a
near perfect performance, the Australian women won the team title by almost four points. Slater won four individual
medals and returned home as one of the most successful Australian team members. She was selected as one of three athletes
to represent the whole team in being welcomed home by the Prime Minister John Howard, a great honor for the gymnast.
With the 2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships approaching quickly, there was barely time to celebrate. Slater
was selected as Australia's only representative for the event after winning five gold medals at the selection trials.
Perhaps Slater's greatest achievement came in 2003 at the world championships in Anaheim. Here, she led the Australian
team to the bronze medal, the first ever won by any Australian female gymnast at this level and of course their highest
team placing ever. The team beat such traditional gymnastics powerhouses as China (who would have won the bronze if not for
a team deduction that was not based upon on actual performances) and Russia.
Slater competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she qualified for the balance beam final. She failed
to medal after a fall from the balance beam. However, she continued impressed with her stylish gymnastics and impressive
cheoreography on floor. As one of the few gymnasts able to combined difficultly on the floor exercise with unique and
stylish dance, she won many fans. She retired from gymnastics on August 24, 2005.
She has gone on to do some television work in Australia, providing commentary for Australian Cable Television for
some Gymnastics events as well as doing some television presenting work during the Australian coverage of the
2005 World Gymnastics Championships.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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