Commonwealth Games: Raising the bar

Mark Holyoake is part of a New Zealand team rated fourth in the Commonwealth. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Anyone who has wandered into the gymnasium in a quiet corner of Auckland's Keith Hay Park on a Friday evening this winter is likely to have witnessed something special.

Amid the slamming of bodies into plastic pads, the pitter-patter and boing of feet on spring boards and the dry aroma of chalk dust, the New Zealand men's artistic team have been readying themselves for the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Training starts at 5pm.While your average worker might be weighing up the prospect of a chicken tikka masala or fish and chips, these athletes are contemplating a gruelling spell at the mercy of the rings or the pommel horse.

The unfortunate truth is few can appreciate the skill, strength and finesse that goes with the six men's routines - the parallel and horizontal bars, rings, pommel horse, floor and vault.

Kiwis can relate to a ball being passed through a backline, delivered on a pitch or threaded through a hoop. However, there is less clarity, and consequently interest, when it comes to agonising on the rings, backflipping on the beam or completing double somersault dismounts from the bars.

Four of the five-man team will compete on each apparatus. The best three scores count in the team competition but there is an overall individual title and medals in each separate discipline as well. Women compete in four events - the floor, vault, beam and uneven bars.

Gymnastics might not attract attention most of the time, but it can transfix television audiences during an Olympics or Commonwealth Games.

New Zealand has never won a medal in the artistic teams event. This is our best chance in 20 years. Kiwi teams have come fourth twice - in 1990 at Auckland and 1978 at Edmonton.

The men's team consists of Mark Holyoake (27), Patrick Peng (21) and Misha Koudinov (19), who went to the 2006 Melbourne Games as well as Matt Palmer (24) and Brandon Field (18) who are attending their first.

David Phillips is the team's coach. As New Zealand's only male artistic medallist at a Commonwealth Games, the 32- year-old's career makes for a worthy trivia question.

He picked up bronze in the floor exercise at Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Phillips was also the last Kiwi gymnast to compete at an Olympics when selected for Sydney 10 years ago. He says this team can justify being ambitious.

"We can win medals. It is the strongest team since 1990. If you look at the statistics, we're sitting about fourth against other teams in the Commonwealth this year [behind Australia, England and Canada].

"All five of our guys have one or two strong events where they've posted scores ranking them in the top eight."

Peng and Koudinov are seen as all-rounders, while Field is useful on the floor and vault and Palmer is resilient on the rings.

Holyoake's specialities are the parallel bars and pommel horse. He holds a mind-boggling Guinness world record in the latter event, completing 63 revolutions - using both legs - in a minute.

At Melbourne, Holyoake felt the pommel horse was his best chance for an individual medal but he fell in qualifying and finished 11th, missing out on the medal round. Delhi is his chance for redemption.

"I relate it to golf," he says. "If you make one mistake, it can ruin your day or, at the very least, you've got a job overcoming it mentally."

Despite doing three to five routines per session, Holyoake says the pommel horse is easy to come off because of its need to mix balance, grip and aggression. He has conjured up some curious ways of maintaining his grip.

"My routine would only last about 20 seconds without chalk and a bit of spit. It stops you sweating."

He goes one further with the parallel bars. "I coat them in honey and water then rub chalk into that so I can hang on."

The rings are a sporting discipline capable of horrifying and captivating your average couch potato.

They include moves like the euphemistically named "swallow" (aka the Maltese cross) where competitors stay parallel with the ground and on the same level as the rings with their arms outstretched.

There is also the iron cross (arms parallel to the ground and body perpendicular) and giant handstands. Each routine lasts about 45 seconds and positions must be held for at least two seconds.

Along with Peng and Koudinov, Palmer is a rings expert, making the national team for the first time on last year's European tour.

He spends most of his time working on his strength in a routine that mixes bursts of energy with excruciating endurance.

"It is particularly demanding on your upper body and core," he says. "Your pectorals get taxed and you need supple shoulders and tight abs."

Holyoake agrees. "After I stopped doing the rings, I lost about 5kgs. You end up carrying that much extra muscle. Something like the pommel horse is far more fitness based. It's nice being a bit lighter for it."

As a rule, gymnasts' physiques are preposterously toned, compared to the norm. The immediate reaction witnessing them is one of awe, followed closely by sympathy in that they probably haven't been able to ever sample too many pies or beers.

Palmer says diet is a focus.

"I'm not a freak about it because we're already expending lots of energy," he says. "It's just a matter of getting plenty of red meat, other protein and carbs after training to refuel . . . and staying away from takeaways.

"I love my steak, which can be costly on a [commerce] student budget but you can't compromise. Sometimes it means walking instead of taking the bus to training to cut costs."

Despite meticulous preparation, the team are currently battling some minor injury problems such as sprained wrists and bruised joints. They had a full test run at the North Island championships yesterday in Papakura - that was a dress rehearsal to address competition nerves before Delhi.

"You need those to compete regularly and even hold mock competitions," says Phillips. "It's important to try to replicate the nerves. It's not just about raw power and technique; you have to harness your energy so you don't throw yourself off the apparatus.

"Matt [Palmer] was a good example last year during the World Cups. He said he didn't know he could be that nervous and lost his strength because he was overawed and intimidated."

Palmer and the team get to test their mettle from October 4- 8. However, the Commonwealth Games will not be the end of the season for the team. They head to Rotterdam to prepare for the world championships later next month.

TEAM LINE-UP
Men's artistic
* Misha Koudinov (North Harbour)
* Matt Palmer (Christchurch)
* Patrick Peng (Auckland)
* Mark Holyoake (Auckland)
* Brandon Field (Auckland)

Women's artistic
* Holly Moon (Christchurch)
* Jordan Rae (Counties Manukau)
* Briana Mitchell (North Harbour)

Women's rhythmic
* Keziah Oliver (Christchurch)
* Kimberley Robson (Christchurch)
* Mereana Rademekers (Christchurch)