Top athlete award caps off big year for Notre Dame student

World Champion gymnast and University of Notre Dame student, Lauren Mitchell, says she feels special and privileged to be recognised for her achievements around Australia for competing in sport whilst building on her career simultaneously. Ms Mitchell, who studies Biomedical Science at the Fremantle Campus, received the Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year award at the 2011 Australian University Sports Awards in Adelaide against students from 41 other universities. The ceremony recognised achievements from the 2010 year, which saw The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) win the prestigious Doug Ellis trophy for the first time. The award capped off a brilliant 2010 season for the 19-year-old West Australian, who picked up four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi – equalling a world record for the most number of gold medals won by a female gymnast at a Commonwealth Games event. More accolades followed for Ms Mitchell as she became the first Australian female gymnast to win a world championship after taking home a gold medal in the floor exercise at the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Ms Mitchell, who finished sixth on the bars at the 2011 World Cup in Moscow last month, has her sight set on qualifying for the London Olympics next year and is training more than six hours a day to achieve her goal. When she’s not competing or training, Ms Mitchell is at Notre Dame studying for a potential future career in medicine. “I would like to continue on with biomedical science because it’s such a broad course and I can go on to anything afterwards,” Ms Mitchell says. “The quest for an end goal not only helps me continue in my sport, but assists in developing skills needed for my future career path.” UNDA Sports Officer, Jaimee Murphy, describes Ms Mitchell’s achievements as outstanding and says that it speaks volumes of her dedication to sport and her future career path. “Lauren’s dedication to sport is top class, and to be able to find the time to study here at Notre Dame is truly commendable. We are delighted that she is part of the Notre Dame community,” Ms Murphy said. Media Contact: Leigh Dawson (+61) 8 9433 0569, Mob (+61) 0405 441 09