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Barbara Gasser on Floor

Recently crowned Austrian champion Barbara Gasser spoke with IG about training in Canada, representing her native country and moving up in the world rankings.

Born Aug. 30, 1989, in Lustenau, Gasser has been training at Bluewater Gymnastics in Sarnia, Ont, Canada, with Dave and Liz Brubaker since 2003. She won the Austrian junior all-around title in 2003 and 2004.

At the Austrian Championships in November, Gasser won the senior all-around, balance beam and floor exercise titles.

Gasser was Austria’s top all-arounder at the 2008 Senior Europeans held in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in April, where she finished 19th in team qualifications. (No all-around contest was held.)

Gasser’s ranking in Clermont-Ferrand marked a significant improvement from her Europeans results in 2005 (47th place in qualifications), and 2006 (43rd in team qualifications – no all-around contest was held).

As Gasser prepares for major competitions in 2009 – including the Europeans in Milan and the World Championships in London – she gave IG her thoughts on reaching her international potential.

Read the complete interview here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.