Johnston's dream of treble blown away
Naazmi Johnston of Australia has won five medals at the Delhi Games. Photo: GettyImages
NAAZMI JOHNSTON's quest to collect a historic three gold medals in one day was thwarted by the unlikeliest of hazards - a crosswind in an indoor gymnasium.
The considerable draft caused by the Indira Ghandi Stadium's airconditioning played havoc with rhythmic gymnasts during the individual apparatus final, and caused Johnston to fumble in her ribbon and hoop routines.
The errors might have prevented Johnston from equalling Kasumi Takahashi's Commonwealth Games gymnastics record of six medals - five of them gold - but her haul of one gold and two silver medals yesterday was nonetheless an impressive afternoon's work.
Johnston will leave Delhi with three gold medals, highlighted by victory in her ''worst apparatus'', the ball routine, to go with her previous wins over the first two days of the rhythmic program in the team's event and all-around.
''At the beginning of the day I decided to go for every throw - to go out there and try and get it,'' Johnston said. ''For some reason I have a block with the ball routine. It's something about the ball being able to roll away that makes me hesitate a little bit. In competition you can't hesitate because that's when you do drop it but, surprisingly, somehow I can always pull it out on the day.''
Cyrprus's Chrystalleni Trikomiti mastered the oddly treacherous conditions to collect gold in the rope and ribbon routines, while Malaysia's Elaine Koon won the hoop competition.
Johnston admitted her gold medal count might have been higher were it not for the breeze. ''I should have known from yesterday, I only had a second to look at it and I thought, 'Yeah, it's perfect','' Johnston said of the wind. ''I did the next roll and it was gone.''
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