History-making gymnast Ellis O'Reilly fails to advance but plenty of reasons to be proud

QUALIFICATION WAS ALWAYS a long-shot but 18-year-old Ellis O’Reilly can be happy with her Olympic debut in Rio.

In the process, she became the first female gymnast to ever represent Ireland at the Games and though there was a disappointing finale owing to a nasty fall during her beam exercise, there were plenty of impressive moments.

There was a composed opening and she picked up a solid score of 11.666 for her floor exercise – probably a little shy of what she would’ve wanted.

But her performances on the vault and uneven bars were neat and polished and she finished on an overall score of 47.932.

An encouraging display from O’Reilly and there will be plenty more to come from her in the future.

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