Mitchell sets Olympic standard

pGymnastics world champion Lauren Mitchell will be the benchmark for others to measure their progress in the lead-up to the London Olympics when the Australian championships and selection trials are held in Sydney over the next five days, starting tomorrow. /p p The 2010 world floor champion will be up against four of her Beijing Olympic teammates after Daria Joura and Olivia Vivian decided to nominate, joining a young crop which includes West Australians Emily Little and Nikki Chung. /p pJoura, who spearheaded Australia to sixth in the team competition in Beijing four years ago, has moved from WA to Queensland where she only recently returned to top-level competition after more than three years out of the spotlight. /p pShe won the vault at the Queens- land championships with a high-scoring double-twisting Yurchenko, while showing her powerful tumbling skills on the floor. /p pVivian is also back in the mix after returning from the US where she has been studying and training at the University of Oregon for the past three years. Joining them will be Ashleigh Brennan and Georgia Bonora. Shona Morgan is the only member of the 2008 team missing. /p pLittle and Chung have been Australia#39;s top scorers all-around recently. Little is expected to carry the greatest load when the team travels to London in search of its first Olympic medal. /p pThe 18-year-old#39;s role as team anchor has largely been overshadowed by Mitchell#39;s individual successes with gold and silver at the world championships. /p pHowever, Australia may not have qualified a full contingent for London had it not been for Little#39;s consistency on all four apparatus at the last world championships. /p pIt is a load most specialists shy away from. Even Mitchell will focus on her two specialist apparatus, the floor and beam, at the Olympics. /p pAnother familiar face will be Chloe Sims who won the all-around competition at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. /p pMitchell said her only focus at the moment was to make sure she was in the team. The trials are spread over two competitions before the final team is named next month. /p p#34;We spent last week simulating competition to get us into the right frame of mind,#34; she said. /p p#34;I#39;ve been doing a lot of strength and conditioning work but once the selection process has finished the emphasis will be on quality and precision, which is a far tougher assignment.#34; /p pWAIS could have a record four members of the team after Chung recently upset Little for the all-around title at the WA championships. /p