Gymnastics: Time to quit, says NZ champ

New Zealand gymnastics champion Laura Robertson gave the Sydney Olympics her best shot yesterday - and then decided to call it quits from the sport.

Robertson, who took a year out from her study to train for the Olympics, performed all her routines consistently well and finished off with her best mark of 9.012 on the floor.

"For me that was a really good competition because I didn't make any major mistakes - just a few little ones," she said.

The Aucklander was pleased with the way she hit her tumbles on the floor, although she stepped outside the line twice to incur 0.2 deductions and so was deprived of a personal best mark for her floor routine.

She emerged from the beam with a broad smile on her face, content to have had no big wobbles on an apparatus that draws mistakes from nervous gymnasts.

"I was nervous. That's only natural.

" I was also very excited and I just enjoyed the amazing atmosphere," she said.

Robertson, 18, who has been national champion for the past four years, represented New Zealand at the 1998 Commonwealth Games but has no ambition to carry on to the Manchester Games in 2002.

"That is probably it for me now," she said, after completing her Olympic routines.

The grind of training 30 hours or more a week has lost its appeal for Robertson, and the former Westlake Girls High School student plans to return to study, probably a design course.

She feels the Olympics are the right place to round off 12 years in the sport, which she took up because her best friend was doing it and she decided to start going to gym classes.

A knee injury forced her to miss two international competitions this year but she did not think that affected her Games preparation in the end.

"In a way I think it worked out quite well for me because it gave me a bit of a break from training hard out," she said.

Her total mark today of 35.348 also comprised 8.899 for the vault, 8.6 for the uneven bars and 8.837 for the beam.

- NZPA