Rotorua gymnasts return with swag of medals

Three Rotorua girls have returned from competing in Hawaii with proof Kiwi gymnasts are just as good as other gymnasts around the world.

Mid Island Gym Sports gymnasts Krista Taylor, 11, Grace Bruere, 14 and Courtney Smith, 15, recently returned from the Aloha Gymfest and Gymnastics in Paradise events held in Hawaii with a haul of 24 medals and six trophies between them.

Each girl won eight medals and two trophies.

All three have been in the sport for a number of years with both older girls also helping to train younger members of the Rotorua club.

Bruere, who won third and fifth overall respectively, said she found competing not only rewarding but enlightening and wanted to compete internationally again.

"It was a really good experience," she said. "Gymnasts from other countries aren't any better than New Zealand gymnasts. We are just as good if not better."

Taylor, who won first place for her floor displays found it difficult with a New Zealand team coach supporting her, not her usual coach, Dongfang Xiao.

She thinks she may have been a bit young to compete overseas without her own coach beside her.

"They know what we are capable of," she said.

Smith, who took part with a niggling knee injury, collected most of her medals and trophies for her efforts on the parallel bars. She also wished her own coach had been there to support them in competing.

"Your own coach knows your limitations and just how much they can push you," she said.

"It was really great meeting people from around the world and competing in a different country. You get to see how other gymnasts are and a different culture," she said.

The girls' coach said they deserved their success as they had worked hard to get to picked for the New Zealand team. "I'm very proud of them, Dongfang said.