Aussie gymnasts have Games trump card

US superstar Aly Raisman is expecting big things from Australia's gymnasts at the Commonwealth Games under national coach Mihai Brestyan.

Georgia Godwin of Australia

Georgia Godwin is a two-time world championship representative for Australia. (AAP)

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Aly Raisman believes Australia's gymnasts have an ace up their sleeve for the Commonwealth Games.

Australia's five-strong women's artistic team will be far from the most experienced in action on the Gold Coast next month.

But they boast a world-class national coach in Mihai Brestyan, Raisman's long-time personal coach who guided the American superstar to gold at the London and Rio Olympics.

Raisman was a keen observer of Australia's gymnasts during her stint as ambassador at the recent World Cup event in Melbourne.

"I was really impressed ... they look really strong and confident, and they seem really consistent," she told AAP.

"I think having Mihai will really help. He's going to work a lot on re-modelling their program and really focusing on the strength and conditioning aspect of it.

"I've been working with Mihai since I was 10 years old, so it's years and years of conditioning. I would say he's really, really good at that.

"It's just improving the height and the power on everything so that it is easier for them to add more difficulty."

Just one member of the women's squad - Georgia-Rose Brown - remains from the 2014 Games in Glasgow, where Australia finished behind England to claim silver in the all-around team event.

Gold Coast native Georgia Godwin is a strong gold medal chance after finishing 13th in the all-around event at the 2017 world championships.

But she'll have to overcome Canadian star Ellie Black, who won silver at last year's world championships and claimed gold on the beam at Glasgow.

On the rhythmic side, Danielle Prince will make history as the first Australian female gymnast to compete at three Commonwealth Games.

South Australian vault specialist Christopher Remkes is the top prospect on the men's side.


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Source: AAP



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