Some of the?region’s most promising young gymnasts were on show last weekend at the Concorde Experience in the second annual Barbados Gymnastics Invitational meet.
The one-day event attracted 76 participants between the ages of eight and 18 from clubs in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
The venue was transformed into a major competition arena as athletes showcased their skills in artistic gymnastics and entertained an appreciative audience and visiting judges with varied efforts on the vault, floor, balance-beams and bars.
Several athletes produced impressive performances and among them were gold medal winners Tyshana Beckles (Olympia of Trinidad and Tobago) and Barbadians Gabrielle Brome, Shakayla Estwick, Mollie Loveridge, Natalia Goodman, Malik Goodman, Teriq Linton and Brandon Gill.
Beckles, Estwick and Goodman were also among those recognized as all-round winners, as they won at least two of the four events contested and scored highly in the others.
In the Boys’ Level 6 category, Teriq Linton of the Foundation School and Brandon Gill of The St Michael School produced keen rivalry on the bars and pummel horse before Linton emerged the all-around winner.
Medals, trophies and ribbons awarded during the invitational event were sponsored by United Insurance and the company’s marketing manager Sharron Alleyne-Elcock praised the organizers for successfully staging another meet.
“It was a fantastic event and we were happy to be able to support the Gymnastics Association and our young athletes who have been showing great improvement over the years,” she said.
Head coach of the Barbados team, Allison Jackson, said there was an improvement in the number of boys competing. He said both boys and girls performed well given the fact that most of them moved into higher levels of competition.
Around 40 Trinidadians participated in the meet. (PR)
