Plett gymnast ready for the world stage
PLETTENBERG BAY - Plettenberg Bay gymnastics star Leolin Petersen is ready to take the world stage and show off her skills at the Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Championship that gets underway today, 9 November.
After long hours of training, fundraising and support from her community, the 17-year-old Plett Primary School alumnus made it to Birmingham in the UK earlier this week where she will not only represent South Africa in her age group but also as part of the senior team.
This is a prestigious international competition that will also serve as a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic
Games and the 2025 World Games. For Leolin, it is one step closer to achieving her ultimate dream – one she has had since her early gymnastics days – of participating at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The youngster from New Horizons had to raise a whopping R80 000 to cover costs of the flights, accommodation, transport, meals, competition entry, travel insurance and her gymnastics kit.
Her family, friends and community however banded together with various fundraising initiatives including food sales, sponsorships and crowd funding. The costs were covered and a group of supporters held a final dinner last week to raise some pocket money for her during her stay, which is until 21 November.
"I am so thankful. We had people from our community and even further afield support her dream," said Leolin's mother, Helen Bezuidenhout. "Whenever help was needed, someone jumped in. An example of this was Moby's Seafood Grill and Deck and Melville's Spar who helped to do colour copies and emails when load shedding hit and I needed to urgently get something done."
On Sunday, Leolin and her fellow teammates boarded their flight to the UK where they settled in before the competition. "I am very excited and nervous at the same time," she said all the way from Birmingham. "This is because I am competing in the senior team for the first time." She will be competing against former world champions, so competition is going to be stiff. "I am however going to give it all I have. I have been preparing for this my entire life."