Ellis O'Reilly becomes the first Irish woman in history to qualify for the Olympics in a gymnastics event.
Needing a score of 49.134, that would see her book her place alongside Kieran Behan, David Oliver Joyce and Brendan Irvine at the Olympic Games in Rio this summer, O'Reilly scored 50.032 AA.
She is the second Irish gymnast to qualify for the Olympics this weekend alongside Behan who also qualified earlier on Sunday.
O’Reilly achieved qualification at the Aquece Rio Gymnastics Qualifier in Brazil, in the city where the games will be held this August.
Cannot believe that I have just qualified for the 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES ! I AM NOW OFFICIALLY AN OLYMPIAN ! 🎉🙉😮😳🇧🇷👌👊👠pic.twitter.com/GkfbKeezDH
— Ellis O'Reilly (@EllisOReilly1) April 18, 2016
Speaking to the Irish Independent, CEO of the Gymnastics Ireland, Ciaran Gallagher said: "This is a huge step forward for our women's programme and in becoming the first Irish female gymnast to qualify to an Olympic Games Ellis' achievement will serve to inspire to all the young up and coming Irish gymnasts who will want to follow in her footsteps.
"The focus for Ellis and coach Sam James now shifts to the summer Games where she will join Kieran Behan in flying the Irish flag at the most prestigious competition in our sport.
"It was an ambitious target set by Sally Filmer, our Performance & Technical Manager, four years ago to qualify one male and one female gymnast to Rio but today it is a target achieved.
"On behalf of our organisation I would like to congratulate Ellis and Kieran on this great achievement."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
