Dual Olympic gymnast Lauren Mitchell (left) comforts Birkdale s Larrissa Miller, who sheds a tear on realising her Olympic dream. Photo: Getty Images
Larrissa Miller in action. Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
YEARS of hard work, family sacrifices and disappointment faded into insignificance for Birkdale gymnast Larrissa Miller, when she was chosen to represent Australia at the London Olympics.
The tiny 19-year-old uneven bar specialist burst into tears prompting a hug from dual Olympic gymnast Lauren Mitchell and words of delight posted on Facebook.
"I can't even begin to explain how it feels to be a part of the 2012 London Olympic team," she wrote after the emotional press conference at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
"This is my dream coming true. Thank you so much to my family, friends, teammates and everyone else who has supported me along this journey."
Her mother, Leonie, said the tears were expected after the "ups and downs" of Larrissa's busy career and gruelling training schedule.
"She was overjoyed and I guess there were tears because she couldn't believe all the hard work had paid off and she was one step closer to her dream," Leonie said.
"It is not every day you get told you're going to the Olympics.
"After the past three-and-a-half years, it was a relief she had achieved part of her dream the next step will be to get an Olympic medal."
Larrissa's spot in the Olympic team came after she won the uneven bars at this year's Gymnix International event in Montreal, Canada, in March.
She consolidated her status with a bronze place in the uneven bars at the Zibo World Cup in China in April.
Last year, the former Alexandra Hills State School student, showed the world her true talent winning second place in her signature event at the Doha World Championships and eighth in the floor exercise.
She was also part of the Australian team that came sixth at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, where she proved her worth as a team player.
Although injury prevented her competing in the national championships this year, she came third in the uneven bars at the event last year and was in the team that came second.
The disappointment of narrowly missing out on a place in the Commonwealth Games gymnastics team that went to Delhi in 2010, also factored in her training for the Olympics.
"Missing out on going to the Commonwealth Games was a big disappointment but that just made me work harder," Larrissa told Bayside Bulletin in 2010.
"I had surgery on my left ankle in December 2009 and my fitness level was not as high as it should have been when I entered the Commonwealth Games trials in July.
"After that, I vowed not to miss out on a spot in the Australian team again and now my hard training has paid off," Larrissa said.
But the focussed teenager battled on despite struggling with injury and has worked relentlessly training with coaches Vladimir and Irina Joura since 2010 at the High Performance Centre, at the Sleeman Complex, Chandler.
It's the same complex where Thornlands Commonwealth gold medallist Thomas Pichler trains.
Thomas was named this month as the Olympic reserve for Josh Jefferis and will also travel to the UK to attend the training camp prior to the games.
Unfortunately, the Australian men's gymnastics team failed to qualify for an Olympic position.
