Sorry it took so long for me to update, but Skyline of concrete dreams (my other fic) comes first and I'm also working on another sport related fic (which, to be honest, I'm in love with).
Anyway, enjoy...
"Calm down, you've got this!" Kathryn squeezed her shoulder in a show of support.
"You are a world champion, do half of what you did there and you'll still qualify"
Regina nodded and swallowed deeply. She closed her eyes, rolling her shoulders back into a straight posture. She has this in the bag, she can do this.
The woman carrying the sign with their country's name on it started walking towards the stadium. As soon as they were visible to the public' eye the arena was filled with claps and shouts of encouragement.
Regina kept her game face on until the moment they called out her name. She stepped out of the line of girls and waved to the people watching. She didn't find Emma but she wasn't intending on doing so before she is seated comfortably and waiting for her turn.
Two days prior they took part in the group all-around qualification, as expected they were far ahead of every other team. Emma was there from start to end and even waited for them to go backstage to congratulate her.
Today was the individual qualifying which meant a much harder competition. The Russians and Chinese are quite strong at the uneven bars and beam and Regina knew she needed to be concentrated. When she asked Emma about today the blonde winced and said she might miss it due to a practice. To say that Regina was disappointment was an understatement but at the same time she completely understood. The blonde promised to try and be there, even if late and Regina couldn't tame that feeling of hope that settled after that. She will come.
They were waiting for their turn on the vault, Regina's weakest element. She was unbeatable in floor routines, always in the top three in uneven bars and a force to be reckoned with in the balance beam. Yet, no one is perfect, every gymnast has an element she is less good at, for Regina it's the vault. She has the power needed for the jump and her elements are sufficient difficulty wise but with years and years of training under her belt it still feels like a gamble whether she manages to land properly or not. It is something she had learned to live with, sometimes her landings are perfect and sometimes she is this much from falling on her ass.
As much as her mother hates that about her, she too has learned to accept that her daughter might be the reigning champion of gymnastics but still has quite a flaw.
Still, knowing her situation doesn't stop Regina from hoping she might pull this jump off. If she will do it she would be put in line with some of the best gymnasts in history, as one to qualify to group all-around, as well as individual all-around and every element on its own. That makes her entitled, with the right execution and some luck, to 6 medals overall.
Kathryn is up now and she cheers up loudly as she steps closer to the running strip. In a quick motion she scans the area Emma sat in the last time and can't help but deflating just a little when Emma isn't there. She re-focuses on Kathryn who's warming up, trying her first jumps once. Cora steps on the podium after the test jump and re-places the springboard a little more accurately. She talks to Kathryn, gesturing with her hands while giving her instruction. The blonde nods vigorously and walks back to the running strip.
She takes a deep breath and lifts her hand, arching her back while smiling. She steps on the running strip and start running fast. She hits the vault, performing her Tsukahara with 2,1/2 turn off. She lands perfectly and the crowd erupts with applause. There really was no competition for Kathryn on this equipment, starting with a 6.500 difficulty level and a deduction of 0.634 makes Kathryn invincible with a score of 15.866.
Regina shots to her feet and clap her hands excitedly, this was amazing. There were still 5 girls to go but there was no doubt Kathryn will qualify to the finals if she only got her second jump right.
She makes her way back to the same spot, going with a lower difficulty level of 6.100. She rolls her shoulders and lets out a breath.
"Come on!" Regina calls "you can do it!"
Kathryn doesn't respond but Regina knows she heard it if the little smirk she is sporting is anything to go by.
She starts running, sprinting up and pushing herself up, doing two and half turn before landing quite shakily on the ground. She has difficulty stabilizing herself while landing and she takes a right step to her side. This will definitely require a deduction but still, Kathryn looks happy with the result. There is no doubt that her performance here is enough for her to qualify to the vault' final.
Regina catches Cora purse her lips and rolls her eyes at the sight. Of course the woman won't accept anything other than perfect. She approaches Kathryn and hugs her tightly.
"Good job" she says, smiling and Kathryn returns the smile.
"I warned you about touching the surface too early didn't I?" Cora bites and Regina wraps her hand around Kathryn's shoulders and leads her away.
"Not now mother" she says.
"Just ignore her" she whispers to her while cameras are flashing around them.
"I know, I know" Kathryn assures and turns to look at her.
"Now I want you to prove her wrong, do you understand me? Show her what you're made of. I wanna see her call you inept after you qualify for six finals" the blonde lifts her eyebrow in challenge and Regina laughs.
"You got it."
She turns to look at the scoring board. Kathryn is first, way ahead of everyone with her high difficulty routines and good execution. After her, in second place is Irina the Russian kid and in third Yang is located. She takes a look at the scores and does the math in her head, she can do this, all she needs to do is keep her formation tight and stick her landing and she can pass them.
Doing exactly what Kathryn did only with one half a turn less, she has pretty good difficulty levels of 6.300 and 5.900.
She turns to look at the Canadian doing her jump and landing on her butt. She can spot the disappointment all over her face and she feels a little ping at her heart; she knows that working hard for years only to fail in the moment of truth is truly heart breaking.
She doesn't have the time to dwell on this since she is up next. As Kathryn promised, she keeps Cora away from her, giving Regina the peace of mind she needs.
She steps on the field and does her jump test. She tumbles to the side and shakes her head in anger. She can't do that the next time, it will end her chances of qualifying. Ian, the other team coach helps her re-place the spring board and she nods his way. He steps off and she settles in her place and raises her hands with a smile.
She focuses on the vault and shuts the world out. No one is here but you. You can do this. Just land and it's yours.
She lets out a deep breath and charges forward, faster and faster until her hands hit the vault and she is in the air.
* I know it's mean stopping there but I can't help it, I love cliffhangers. Don't worry though, the next update would be much faster than this one was. Already working on it actually.
* If you find yourself confused with some of the words use what I like to call the 'Harry Potter protocol'- if you don't know what it is probably a name of an element (just like in Harry Potter it is a name of something magic related).
* The routine I had in mind for Kathryn is the one Mckayla Maroney performed in London 2012 Olympics so you can go and check it out if you're interested.