Koudinov leads contingent
AUCKLAND: Experienced gymnast Misha Koudinov continues to stamp his name in New Zealand’s history books, as the two time Olympian leads the men’s artistic gymnastics team into a record fifth consecutive Commonwealth Games.
Gymnastics New Zealand has named a full fiveperson men’s artistic gymnastics team and two individual rhythmic gymnasts for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Koudinov said he was having more fun than ever before training for his fifth Commonwealth Games.
‘‘This selection affirms my training methods and reflects a lifestyle grounded in wellbeing and sports longevity,’’ Koudinov said.
‘‘This selection also plays an important part in our future development, providing an enormous amount of experience for our team, as well as motivation for the future generation of New Zealand athletes.
‘‘We’re all looking forward to this Commonwealth adventure and receiving the higher energy that such events bring to our growth.’’
The team is a mix of youth and experience.
Joining Koudinov are brothers Ethan and Sam Dick, William Fu Allen and Jorden O’ConnellInns.
The rhythmic gymnasts are Havana Hopman and Paris Chin.
Ethan Dick, who is currently studying and training at Penn State University, will be heading into his second Commonwealth Games.
His younger brother, Sam, as well as Fu Allen and O’ConnellInns, will all be making their Commonwealth Games debuts.
The men from Tri Star are coached by Mark Jujnovich and Olympian David Phillips, who have both had their time on the competition floor at the 1990 and 1998 Commonwealth Games respectively.
O’ConnellInns is coached by Alexander Pozdniakov, who attended the 2018 Commonwealth Games as a coach.
Each athlete contributes individual specialties to the overall team potential.
Koudinov is strong on the parallel bars, while Ethan Dick will be aiming to better his Gold Coast 2018 sixthplace finish on floor.
Sam Dick comes off two fourth place vault finishes at the Youth Olympic Games and Junior World Championships.
O’ConnellInns brings a high degree of skill on the pommel horse, considered the most technical of the men’s six events, and Fu Allen adds an element of consistency to the team event as an allaround athlete, after some strong showings at world cup events in Cottbus and Doha earlier this year.
Together, the team will be striving for a podium finish against powerhouse nations, England, Canada and Australia.
In the women’s rhythmic gymnastics, both Chin and Hopman have attended multiple World Cups and international tournaments throughout Europe this year.
This high level of competition against the traditionally strong eastern European nations has prepared them well for the Games.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of challenges in the last two years, but Havana has worked very hard to achieve her goal of representing New Zealand in Birmingham, and we are very proud of her,’’ Tracey Redhead, who coaches Havana alongside Elena Pirozhenko, said.
‘‘My selection to the NZ Team is an honour,’’ Chin said.
‘‘When I was younger, I watched other gymnasts compete at the Commonwealth Games and I always hoped that one day I would get the chance. Now that I’m heading to Birmingham, I hope to be an inspiration for all the other young girls in rhythmic gymnastics to achieve their hopes and dreams because they can come true when you work hard, have the right people to help you get there, and [have] good luck on your side.’’
The naming takes the total number of athletes currently selected for the New Zealand team for Birmingham 2022 to 39. — RNZ