Cooroy gymnast Finlay Jones has been awarded the 2021 Gymnastics Australia levels gymnast of the year for his competitive performances.
He will be presented his award later this month when he attends the Australian Gymnastics Championships at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure
Centre.
Finlay started gymnastics at the Cooroy Club in 2008 and was immediately invited to join the boys’ competitive development team.
In 2010 current coach coordinator Jamie Cannon joined the club and had an immediate impact on Finlay and the boys’ team.
Finlay has had many coaches throughout his career but he has taken his gymnastics to another level through the guidance of senior men’s coach Greg Smyth.
Smyth has brought a new level of focus and knowledge to the team. With his years of experience as a FIG judge and coach, he has delivered strategic outcomes for the men’s team.
He said that he was impressed with Finlay’s tenacity and focus, which is a product of having to work so hard to achieve his results.
The road wasn’t always easy and rewarding for the gymnast.
While achieving some early success winning his first state championship in 2011, he wouldn’t achieve another until 2018.
It took three attempts to qualify for his first national championships but he has
found his feet and will be attending his fourth this month. Perseverance was the key for Finlay to start to reap the rewards for all of his training and hard work.
Despite his slow start, Finlay now has an impressive 20 Queensland state championship medals including nine Queensland state titles and 15 national championship medals with seven individual national titles.
He was also selected on the Australian levels tour to the USA in 2020 taking part in his first international competition.
The 2021 season produced his best results of three gold medals for individual apparatus, a bronze in the all around and a silver for the team event.
Focus is now on the 2022 Australian Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast where Finlay and his team mates Dean and Lyam Chandler will compete for Queensland in the level 10 division and are hoping for a win for the Queensland team.
