In late August, Spartan women's gymnast Emma Milne had the honor of representing Canada at the FIG World Challenge Cup competed in Mersin, Turkey.
While there, Emma wrote a diary about her trip to Turkey and competing for Canada.
Enjoy!
August 27
I landed in Adana, Turkey, at around 3:30 p.m., after a very long trip. I was quite tired and just wanted to get back to the hotel and relax. This was made difficult though as my baggage didn't show up to the airport! I spoke with the faculty there, but the language barrier made it quite difficult to get too far. So, they took my number, a scan of my passport and baggage tag, and the description of my bag, and I left to find the organizing committee. As soon as I stepped out of the airport it was insanely hot! It was 35°C (95°F) in direct sun with little airflow, definitely hotter than I was used to! I quickly found the organizing committee of the event, informed them of my missing bag, and off we went on our two-hour car ride to the hotel. When arriving at the hotel, I could tell that it was a nice spot! We could see the Mediterranean Sea from the windows, a small beach behind the building, and palm trees everywhere! Since I was the first one there from Canada, I just went to my room and tried to get settled as well as see what I could do about finding my luggage. An overall hectic but good first day.
August 28
I woke up to my teammate being in the room whom I didn't know very well. We spoke a bit and then went down to meet our coaches and our judge for breakfast. Our group was friendly but still a little reserved as we weren't to familiar with each other yet. When we finished at breakfast, we got ready for the first training session of the week. We were in the training gym and didn't want to over do training as we had a long week ahead. So we did mainly skills and part routines. During this session, I got to talk to the girls on the Vietnamese and the Turkish team. They were all very sweet and welcoming! After a successful session, we returned to the hotel. I still had no bag. After working with the organizing committee some more, we learned that my bag was coming the next day! Thankfully I already had my items required for training and competition in my carry on. The rest of the day was about relaxing and getting prepared for podium training the next day.
August 29
Mornings in Mersin were quite relaxed. We would wake up, have breakfast together as Team Canada, and then Audrey (my teammate) and I would go back to our room to stretch and prepare for training. Podium training was quite successful! I found it pretty easy to adapt to the equipment. However the jet lag was much stronger this day, so I felt pretty tired. Despite this, I was able to put some routines and part routines together and get prepped for day one of competition the next day! At podium training, I met the Irish team and some of the Slovenian girls who again were all super sweet! When getting back to the hotel, Audrey and I wanted to try and go down to the beach but could not seem to find an entrance. We found it so funny, but quickly learned that we had to leave the hotel grounds to enter the beach. Due to this, we decided it was better we saved our beach trip until a later day.
August 30
Today was the first day of competition! The first day was qualifications for vault and uneven bars finals. I was excited to finally represent Canada for the first time! My vault in competition was the best one that I had done in weeks as well as my bar routine! I was extremely happy with my performances and excited for the following days. While we were at the venue, Audrey and I got to know some of the men's Turkish team and watch them compete. It was very interesting to have men compete at the same time! After the competition, the entire Canadian team went for a swim in the Mediterranean! The water was so blue and warm! It was such a fun experience! We then had dinner and relaxed for day two of competition!
August 31
In the morning, the Canadian delegation went and visited a mosque close to the hotel. The building was beautiful! The detail in the architecture and paint inside was amazing! We then walked around a market in Mersin for about 30 minutes before going back to the hotel to prepare for day two! This was qualifiying for balance beam and floor. This was also quite successful! Despite the routine not being my best, I qualified to compete in balance beam finals. I also had a great floor routine which qualified me for floor finals as well! Again very happy with my overall performances for day two! After the competition, the Canadian delegation went to downtown Mersin to the bazaar – a type of shopping centre. The bazaar was similar to an American downtown shopping scene with lots of storefronts that you would enter from the street. Seeing the city and getting the chance to interact with the culture was very cool to experience! After an hour or two, we returned to the hotel and rested for finals the next day.
September 1
The morning was again quite relaxed as we needed to rest as much as we could before finals as both Audrey and I had three finals that day. My performances on uneven bars and balance beam we're not as successful as the first day. However, the added skills and difficulty gave me higher start values in these routines. I had an even better floor routine on this day though! I placed 8th in all three finals! Being that this was my very first international experience (even outside of gymnastics) I am extremely happy with how it went! I gained lots of experience, met new people, represented Canada for the first time, and made all of the event finals that I was capable of qualifying for! After the meet, we had a banquet for the athletes, coaches, judges, and organizing company. The food was delicious, and the party afterward was very fun! It was great to get to know the gymnasts better and meet some that I hadn't during the week! After the banquet, Audrey, her coach, and the Canadian judge had to leave for their first flight home. I was pretty sad as I had gotten to be pretty good friends with Audrey after the week. The support of the whole team was so helpful during trainings and competitions. I am very thankful for the team and all we had accomplished!
September 2
On the last day, most delegations had left, but my coach Chris and I weren't getting picked up for the airport until 9:00 p.m., so we had lots of time to kill. We started the day by the pool where we found the Irish team and a few of the Turkish team members. Getting to talk to them and get to know them better was so much fun! We all just swam around and relaxed together after a tiring week! After this, Chris and I went to a shopping centre to try and see how much time we could kill. We later returned to the hotel and talked a bit about the competition and what's to come for this year. We as well as the Irish team got picked up for the airport and left Adana at 11:45pm.
Again, I am extremely grateful for this experience and so honored to have represented Canada on the world stage! Meeting so many people from around the world was such a cool experience, as well as seeing a completely new culture! I am very excited to return to San Jose and get ready for this season and all the exciting things to come!