It is no secret that Caleb dislikes competitions. If they came around more often and involved more of the team, he may think differently about them. But, because they happen so infrequently, there is quite a build-up for each one, which goes hand in hand with Caleb’s stress level. He was happy to learn that he would have 3 others from his team with him at the English Championships.
Parallel Bars
The one bummer about getting all built up for this competition is that Caleb can only compete as a ‘guest’ because he doesn’t have a British passport. It’s a good event to attend for the experience, but the intensity of the event still gets to him.
High Bar
Caleb was looking very strong during his warm-ups, but then he landed wrong on his floor warm-up and hurt his ankle. Apparently the physio said his muscles haven’t caught up with his bone-growth and it’s pulling/pinching as soon as it is aggravated. So, Caleb went through the entire competition with his ankle wrapped and continual applications of an ice pack.
Pommel Horse
There is something to be said for athletes who work through their pain and still try to get the job done that they have trained for. It was neat to watch all the gymnasts and their perseverance.
Caleb & His Coach, Evgeni
As the competition was coming to a close, the senior gymnasts started coming in for their own training in preparation for their competition the following day. We spied some members of the British Men’s Gymnastics Olympic Team.
Max Whitlock
Daniel Purvis
Once we got the print-off of everyone’s scores, we saw that Caleb would have come in 2nd place on Parallel Bars, 4th place for Vault, and 5th place for High Bar. Pretty good for being injured – way to go, Caleb!
Caleb’s next known competition is his Elite Grades in November. He took first last year, and will be able to try to place again this year. It’s nice to see them get some recognition for all their hard work.
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