Celebrating our Olympians
Per Ardua Ad Alta Summer 2008
Allana Slater since hanging up the hand guards
Since retiring from international competitive gymnastics in 2005, dual Olympian and MLC Collegian Allana Slater (2001) has maintained the frenetic pace she became accustomed to while training.
Rather than revel in the luxury of relaxation time, Allana is giving back to Olympic sport that rewarded her so richly with involvement on the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes Commission, the Oceania National Olympic Committee Athletes Commission, the WA Olympic Council and Gymnastics Australia Athlete's Commission. She juggles these obligations with countless community projects, as well as public speaking engagements, judging and occasional coaching.
As the most successful Australian gymnast, with a world ranking of 5 th or 6 th all around for more than five years, and finishing the 1999/2000 world cup circuit ranked number one in the world on the Uneven Bars, Allana approached gymnastics with a maturity that was well beyond her years.
"I learnt a lot about competition because my father was a competitive rally driver and my mum was his navigator. I was also competing from a young age, so the years leading up to my international career were spent preparing and learning what to do on the competition floor," she said.
"I learnt to focus on the routine, not the outcome. Gymnastics was all about the journey, and taking part in the Olympics was the icing on the cake."
When asked about her career highlights, Allana struggles to name just a few.
"It's difficult to isolate a moment in time because each one has a story behind it - that may have been an injury that was overcome, or a personal best which led to a great result, or doing a skill that was internationally recognised as unique."
"The 'wow' skill I'm most proud of is the double twisting, double back somersault dismount off bars, which even now only a few girls in the world can perform," she said.
Among the career highlights Allana is prepared to name are the experiences and results she achieved at the two Olympics in which she represented Australia, as well as being the team captain of the first Australian gymnastics team to win bronze in the World Championships. Another highlight was becoming the most decorated WA Commonwealth Games Athlete of all sports in history, with a gold and two silver medals at the 1998 Games, as well as two gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the 2002 Games.
MLC nurtured and supported Allana's extraordinary sporting dreams.
"The school was fantastic in accommodating my extensive training and travel regime. My working relationship with all the teachers was really good - I let them know when I'd be absent and they let me know where we were up to in the text books," she said.
"By building that relationship, I was able to keep up-to-date with the schoolwork and maintain my straight 'A' average.
"I missed a lot of school through training and travel, some years I was away up to eight months of the year, forcing me to split my year eleven studies. Due to my dedication to school results as well as my gymnastics, it became necessary to make the decision to defer any further studies until such a time that I would be able to do them and myself justice. As a consequence, I have not sat the TEE".
"Gymnastics helped me to understand myself and taught me life skills such as time management, dedication, focus and other qualities, at a very young age" she said.
"I've had an extraordinary life - I've travelled the world, experienced cultural diversity and learnt to be accepting of all cultures and interacted with people from all walks of life. It makes you appreciate being Australian," she said.
Allana's current work as an Olympic Ambassador is in educating students about the Olympics, with a focus on applying Olympic values such as sportsmanship, pride, individual responsibility and non-discrimination to sport and life.
"My work as an ambassador involves going to schools and getting kids excited about the Olympics, setting up communication between the athletes and students and inspiring children to achieve their dreams," she said.
"The Olympics is the ultimate event - it's the only two-week experience that creates harmony in the world and brings everybody together. Once an Olympian, always an Olympian - the Olympic community is there to look out for you, and you find that as one door closes, many others open for you. "
For many years, Allana has been employed as a motivational speaker for organisations as diverse as the Princess Margaret Starlight Foundation, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and BankWest. Many of her public speaking appearances are volunteered for charity, while others are a source of income while she works her way through a physiotherapy degree at university.
"My dream is to become a surgeon and I see physiotherapy as a stepping stone to that. I love studying again. My main concern when going back to study was 'Do I remember how?' So it was great to get high distinctions in my first year at university," she said.
Since retiring, Allana is also enjoying not living by the clock.
"I took a six week holiday to Europe and since then I have taken every opportunity that has presented itself, such as commentating the 2006 Commonwealth Games for the Host Broadcaster. In the immediate future I plan to maintain my good grades, continue my committee and charity work and I hope to be involved this year at Beijing. " You never forget the Olympics - each athlete has a different experience and that is the beauty of them," she said.
One suspects it is also about the extraordinary people, like Allana, that take part in them.
