The year 11 Frankston High School student is part of Australia’s 13-strong gymnastics team, the biggest the country has sent to an Olympics.
Australia will send its largest gymnastics team to an Olympic Games this year.Credit: Getty Images
Australia’s top gymnast, Commonwealth Games champion Georgia Godwin, was ruled out in heartbreaking circumstances when she ruptured an Achilles tendon at training ahead of the national championships last month. Leading trampolinist Blake Rutherford was also eliminated from squad selection after suffering vertebrae fractures in a training incident.
The team will feature a record 11 women and 11 debutants. Four-time Commonwealth Games medallist Emily Whitehead will compete at her second Games in the artistic gymnastics alongside Kate McDonald, Ruby Pass, Breanna Scott, and 28-year-old Emma Nedov, who will make her Olympics debut after coming out of retirement.
A high-flying Batty in action.Credit: Courtesy of Brock Batty
Emmanouela Frroku, 17, will compete in the rhythmic gymnastics along with Jess Weintraub, Phoebe Learmont, Saskia Broedelet and Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva.
The focus of the gymnastics in Paris will be on American superstar Simone Biles, who is coming off a historic ninth all-around crown at the US national championships.
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Batty had a breakout year in 2023 after stumbling in his routines twice at the 2022 world championships. He won junior titles both as an individual and as part of a synchronised duo at last year’s Birmingham world championships, edging out Chinese rival Dong Wang with a score of 57.160.
“I just felt I had so much motivation to come back twice as hard for 2023 and give it another crack and see if we can get it done,” he said. “I just kept my head down the whole year, worked hard, and obviously the results showed for themselves. All the hard work paid off.”
Batty’s favourite move is called the Miller Plus, which famous gymnasts often use to cap off their routines. “It’s two backwards flips and four twists in it. It’s a fun one for me.”
Before Tuesday, Batty had only told two school friends he was about to become an Olympian, but his cover was blown with the team announcement at the MCG.
“It’s happened so fast, and I honestly reckon a day hasn’t gone by where I haven’t thought about this happening since I started at nine years old,” he said.
He knows the Olympics will be a step up in competitiveness.
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“I’ve been in situations where I have a lot of pressure, [to] learn new things, obviously nothing as extreme as this. But I just kind of take each minute as it comes,” said Batty.
“It’s just so satisfying seeing all this self-belief and hard work pay off. And, like, dreams do come true if you work hard enough for it.”
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