News
English Championships
New College Gymnastics Centre, Leicester
This years Championships were particularly important having been named as a selection event for the European and World Championships in addition to Commonwealth Games. With so much at stake the entry was unusually high with a formidable field in all three age groups in the Men’s events.
Joel Burch, Courtney Tullloch and James Hall were the only gymnasts representing a Kent club, with the County having no one performing in the Women’s section. With only three age groups Joel had to compete in the senior section despite still being under 18. Joel worked hard but disappointing errors crept in mainly due to his pre-event training being disrupted by recovery from a shoulder injury sustained in the snow earlier in the year. Never the less a great experience to work alongside seasoned International and Olympic performers and a useful warm up for the London Open next weekend..
Courtney and James in the final round of Juniors started on Pommel both swinging smooth routines and off to a flying start in the chase to catch Frank Baines the first round leader who already had a magnificent 82.40 overall score in the bag. Rings next, Good routine by James with a double twisting somersault dismount to stick but an awesome one by Courtney, who has made this piece his own over the last year. Clean holds and quality swings with accurate technique looked effortless leaving him a mere 0.1 behind Frank. On to Vault where less than a minute decides a gymnast’s fate. Courtney nailed a straight Tsukahara but James was less fortunate, being unable to control a dynamic well rotated vault resulting over 1.5 in penalties for steps, a fall and an injured ankle. Elegant and clean on Parallel Bars, accurate release and catches on High Bar with errors limited James struggling to stick his dismounts due to his ankle. A quick visit to the physio by James, as they moved to, Floor, for their final apparatus. A slight reduction in difficulty and James did well to perform a clean elegant routine to complete the competition finishing in 6th place overall – an excellent all round result. Courtney bounced on the floor, double front somersault with prodigious height and total control, a score of 13.35 and an overall total of 81.55 – 0.85 behind Frank to take the Silver medal. Work on his weaker apparatus was well rewarded with two apparatus titles on Floor and Rings and Bronze on the other 4 apparatus. Quite a tally in the first competition of the year.
South East Grades
Congratulations to gymnasts competing in the South East Grades 14, 13 and 12. 100% of Pegasus competitors gained a distinction, evidence of hard work by Coaches and gymnasts alike.
Grade 14
Grace Miller 2nd, Emily Pearce 9th
Grade 13
Josie Griffiths 10th, Lola Cooper 11th, Jessica Parr 12th
Grade 12
Emily Smith 3rd, Lucy Pallister 4th, Leia Desseaux 8th, Jessica Meadway 12th
Leeds Festival
The Floor and Vault squad display group entered joined the Festival fraternity with a brilliant performance of a routine entitled "Transformers". Imaginative choreography, by Paula Desseaux, using ever changing floor patterns and styles resulted in an extremely interesting and entertaining item.
Congratulations to Coaches, gymnasts and of course Paula for a brilliant display. Watch out for a repeat performance at medal ceremonies at the Kent School Games and Pegasus Open.
World School Games
Selection to the England team for the World Gymnasiada in Doha, Qatar gave Courtney Tulloch his first opportunity in a World event featuring 102 boys from almost 30 nations.. A week of intensive preparation with national Coach Sergei prior to departure on the 7 hour flight from Heathrow on Sunday 6th December saw greater cohesion in the team and enabled National Coach Sergey Sizhanov to fine tune his strategic approach to the team event in which there are 5 gymnasts, four of which are permitted to compete on each apparatus with the top 3 scores counting towards the team total.
An opportunity to train in the fabulous Aspire Centre of Excellence before the competition was valuable in adjusting to the air conditioning and the awesome size of a centre which houses not only a vast performance arena, several practice halls, swimming and diving pools along with conference, medical and sport science facilities.
Courtney was first up on Pommel and a clean swinging routine with good amplitude and execution notched up 13.30, which put him into the top eight and the apparatus final. His confidence was evident as he mounted the podium to compete on Rings.. Combination strength moves, coupled with swing to strength links, clean execution and held positions and a stuck landing brought in a top score of 13.6. and another final qualification. Excellent Vault and Parallel Bars routines also produced personal best scores at this level. Five boys competed 24 routines with only 2 errors between them in the whole event.
The UK contingent was ecstatic as the English boys mounted the rostrum to take the Bronze medal behind Ukraine 1st and Spain 2nd. In the finals Courtney again performed clean stylish routines to finish 6th on Pommel and 4th on Rings just 0.1 away from the Bronze medal.
Regional Development Competition 29th November 2009
The event is one of a number of initiatives in a three year partnership programme rune jointly by Gymnastics England and Pegasus Gymnastics. Aimed at increasing grass root opportunities and pathways to excellence it creates training and competitive activities which have already made a significant impact in the South East.
The competition on 29th involved: gymnasts competing in their first event: boys working towards or competing at Level 1 in the National set work development plan. There was a great atmosphere with enthusiastic and friendly support for all competitors. Gymnasts and audience also enjoyed the thrill of display routines by UK School Games Champions Courtney Tulloch and other top flight members of the host club.
The obvious pleasure of competing with confidence and style is a clear indication of the success of quality sporting opportunities. The two piece event run for advanced general gymnasts from Pegasus saw some excellent work from boys and girls with gold medals won by Harry Franks (Under 10 boys), Carrie Luxford (Under 8 Girls) and Aisling Day (8+ Girls).
The Under 10 boys competing on Floor, Rings, Vault and Parallel Bars for gymnasts at the early stages of Men’s Artistic gymnastics welcomed boys from the Meapa for the first time with an excellent gold medal for Leo Milner with a total of 36.55. Close behind with 36.10 was Isaac Frimstone from Pegasus some 4 years younger than Leo and comparatively new to the sport. His focus and attention to conditioning enabling him to have made exceptional progress.
The under 9 competition on 6 apparatus saw many of the gymnasts who will be competing for Regional team membership in the set work qualifiers in 2010 already demonstrating competence on the apparatus. Many of these youngsters will be motivated to work hard over the next few months with only 4 marks separating the top 12 gymnasts! Outstanding work by the next generation of Pegasus talent took top places with Finlay Lincoln and Euan Cox showing such supremacy on Pommel and High Bar that they finished in Gold and Silver position.
Kent Floor & Vault Teams
Dover Gymnastics Club stepped in to stage this important event in the County Calendar when arrangements for a Leisure Centre venue did not materialise. A great club effort with a well run and enjoyable day had by gymnasts and spectators alike.
There was excellent work at all levels with particular strength and depth shown by Faversham and Whitstable where their coaches have prioritised General gymnastics as a primary discipline with great success. The quality of acrobatic skills, artistic expression and choreography demonstrated by all participating clubs underlines the progress made at every level of gymnastics in Great Britain in recent years.
For this event, teams of 4 gymnasts with top 3 scores to count compete at five levels in both Junior and Senior age groups. Each of the categories is then open to a team of all girls or boys or a mixed team, a combination which enables clubs to include a high percentage of their members.
Medals were won by every competing club in at least one level - underlining the inclusiveness of General Gymnastics events.
Pegasus Team Medals
Novice Mixed Senior - Stefan Noyelle, Chelsea McGrath, Caitlin Parker – Gold
Harrison Casella, Liana Rowlinson, Calantha Rowlinson - Silver
Intermediate Girls Senior- Olivia Morcom, Rebecca Stone, Rachel Stanley - Bronze
Silver Girls Senior – Maria Clarke, Bethan Cooper, Faye Zimmer - Silver
Kent County Championships
Pegasus gymnasts clocked up a host of medals and titles at the Kent County Women’s Artistic Championships held at Deal on 14th and 15th November.
The group competing at Level 5 were first up with superb displays of talent from all the girls who worked well as a team with plenty of encouragement and support for each other. With outstanding routines from Leia Desseaux on her first 3 apparatus she looked set for her first County title but it was not to be. Trying almost too hard Leia started with a lovely russian mount but then fell twice leaving her in 5th place overall. Team mate Kloe had an excellent competition. Wise decisions by her coach on what moves to include enabled her to work clean on all pieces finishing in Bronze medal position.
Hard on their heels were the Level 4 gymnasts. Charlotte Wroe performed a stunning floor routine with such quality and artistry it brought rapturous applause from the capacity crowd. She fought hard to stay on Beam and finished in a well deserved silver medal position. Megan Nathan competed well and despite errors which crept in on Bars and Beam she held on the bronze medal just ahead of club mate Emily Smith.
Sunday started with Level 3 in which 4 Pegasus gymnasts were competing in the three age groups. In age and the toughest was Lucy Fitzsimons whose performance throughout was pure perfection. Not even a finger out of place she ran away with the title almost 2 marks clear of her nearest rival. In the middle age group Megan Tomlin looked in a different league to the rest of the field. Clean work with high difficulty and another title for Pegasus way ahead of the runner up. Club mate Harriet Day in the same age group also performed well to take the bronze medal spot. Hattie Molloy competing in the oldest age group maintained the quality of the quartet, narrowly missing out on the title in silver medal position.
The event finished with the youngest competitors at the start of their competitive careers. The diminutive gymnasts from Pegasus showed a confidence and quality far exceeding their years with beautiful routines and execution. Grace Miller with a score of 48.45 finishing in a well deserved 5th position.
Pegasus Competitors
Level 6: Grace Miller 5th, Emily Pearce, Rebecca Westby
Level 5: Kloe Crawford 3rd, Leia Desseaux 5th, Lola Cooper, Jessica Meadway, Jessica Parr, Josie Griffiths
Level 4: Charlotte Wroe 2nd, Megan Nathan 3rd, Emily Smith 4th
Level 3: Lucy Fitzsimons 1st, Megan Tomlin 1st, Hattie Molloy 2nd, Harriet Day 3rd
British Championships
Photos courtesy of DE photos taken by Helen Cooper
Joel Burch at Under 16, James Hall and Courtney Tulloch at Under 14 gave their all in an impressive display of quality and technique at Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham at the 2009 British Championships. Joel competed on the Saturday and despite not having totally recovered from a virus demonstrated style and difficulty light years ahead of his standard in 2008. The difficulty element of his routines already match that of the top six and his overall confidence is building at National level enabling him to take a well deserved 15th place in a highly talented age group. His Rings routine was well executed, high on difficulty to take him to 6th on this tough apparatus. Sustained hard work, patience and maturity should see Joel leap into the top echelons of the sport in the next year.
The under 14 group competing on Sunday started on Pommel, Courtney lay down the gauntlett with a magnificent error free routine and a score of 13.00, which was bettered only once in the competition leaving him with a silver on this apparatus. James Hall swung through clean and classic but an unfortunate error on his dismount cost him dear to leave him in 10th place. On to Rings, the only apparatus that moves and requires a tricky combination of strength and swinging elements whilst keeping the Rings still is particularly tough. Courtney looked supreme, the audience keyed in to an astounding combination of strength elements and clean swings to handstand into a beautifully landed double somersault dismount – and his first National title was in is hands well ahead of nearest rival Frank Baines from Southport. From there on it was a two horse race for the overall Championship. Frank ‘s accuracy on High Bar keeping him just ahead of Courtney despite his brilliant bronze medal routine on Floor which included a stunning double front somersault. James Hall elegant all round with an awesome effort on vault with a Tsukahara full twist to score 13.95 missed a medal by the merest whisker of 0.1.
Pegasus Competitors
Under 12:James Lamb 45th Joseph Mc Morrow 52nd
Under 14:Courtney Tulloch 2nd Overall, Rings 1st, Pommel 2nd, Floor 3rd
James Hall 7th Overall, 4th Vault, Adam Deans 36th, Jonathan Mills Vault 13.35 (13th)
Under 16th: Joel Burch 15th, Rings 6th
National Volunteer of the Year
Men's Artistic National Volunteer of the year Award was won by Peter Griffin for his total commitment to the events team.
South East Championships
Brilliant performances in the South East Regional Age Groups Championships saw Pegasus gymnasts bring home a cluster of medals and two overall titles! A two day event with approximately 200 competitors from throughout Surrey, Sussex and Kent battled for team and individual honours during the two day event held at Guildford Spectrum on September 19th & 20th.
Some excellent work by the club’s youngest entrants saw Pegasus finish with 2 teams in the top 10 at Level 5. Emily Smith taking 4th overall and much improved Kloe Crawford 6th. Leia Desseaux performed beautifully with a personal best on floor to finish 3rd on this apparatus. One level up, at level 4, both Lucy Fitzsimmons and Charlotte Wroe continued the excellent execution for which the club is well known. Their near faultless performances by both gymnasts on all but beam put Charlotte in 9th place and Lucy on top of the rostrum with a well earned regional title under her belt.
The level 3 team had a tough task on the second day with only 3 members every score had to count leaving no room for errors. Clean crisp delivery with some outstanding work from the entire team to win a well deserved Bronze Medal along with individual honours: Megan Tomlin 5th, Harriet Day 4th and Hattie Molloy 1st adding a second Regional title to the Pegasus haul. The final round saw Ellie Gooding in the Espoire event, which uses Olympic level criteria. A Tsukahara vault, complex Bar routine followed by elegant dance and dynamic tumbling on Beam and Floor and Ellie climbed the rostrum to take a silver medal.
Just three weeks into the season and Pegasus has already notched up 3 National and 2 Regional titles!
Competitors
Level 5: Lola Cooper, Josie Griffiths, Jessica Parr, Katie Cornwell (Team 5th) Emily Smith 4th, Kloe Crawford 6th, Leia Desseaux, Jessica Meadway, (Team 9th)
Level 4:Lucy Fitzsimmons 1st, Charlotte Wroe 9th
Level 3: Hattie Molloy 1st, Harriet Day 4th, Megan Tomlin 5th (Team 3rd)
Espoire: Ellie Gooding 2nd
UK School Games
Each of the ten sports is combined into a four-day Games environment designed to replicate the feel of major event such as the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and Commonwealth Games.
The UK School Games seeks to create an inspirational and motivational setting which encourages more young people to take part and succeed in sport.
Responsibility for the development and organisation of the UK School Games lies with the Youth Sport Trust.
Long after the last whistle has been blown, the last point has been scored and the last match has been won- the friendships that began at the UK School Games will carry on.
Over 1,600 young people attended the Games and for 3 days and 4 nights they lived together at the Athletes Village.
GYMNASTICS
Run as a home international with team, individual all round awards and apparatus finals for the 2 highest scorers from each Country on each apparatus. Officials are also selected by the home nations and are crucial to the Teams success.
Pegasus was well represented in the Men’s Team winning 2 of the 7 gymnasts places, Ionut Trandaburu took a position as one of the coaches and Ovidiu Rugina as Judge. Excellent work by Ovidiu on day 1 saw him selected to the Final judging panels on the Sunday.
The hard work put in during the summer by Ionut with both the Pegasus boys, reaped dividends in the competition arena. Courtney Tulloch led England to victory with an outstanding all round competition. Clean routines, coupled with high difficult rating saw him clear of the field, winning the all round championship and into 4 apparatus finals. James Hall, in his first national team event, provided solid all round support during the weekend underlining his progress in the National Squads.
On Pommel Courtney swung elegant circles and dynamic travels to finish with a Silver medal just 0.05 short of the Gold. Straight on to Rings with superb strength combinations to a stuck landing saw him on top, taking the Gold by a clear margin of 0.7. The Vault final is demanding at any level - but his fast approach with dynamic thrust and good landings put Courtney on the rostrum again in silver position. On to his last final on Parallel Bars where Courtney has improved beyond recognition during the past year. Confident and clean it was clearly worth a medal – just 0.075 short of the Gold. Brilliant! 3 gold’s and 3 silver for Courtney and a team Gold for James. Perfect start to the Autumn season.
Representing England were Gymnasts - Courtney Tulloch, James Hall (Res) Coach – Ionut Trandaburu and Judge – Ovidiu Rugina
Pegasus Open
Brilliant! From the rig at 7.30am Thursday to the record breaking attempt de-rig completed in 1 hour 1 minute at 8.00pm on Sunday evening there was barely a ripple never mind a hitch in the seemless delivery of another superb weekend. It was no surprise that this year’s event attracted the attention of many. Gymnasts flew in from Slovenia, Slovakia, Eire, Ulster, the Isle of Man and many more motored from the far corners of Great Britain. Over 500 gymnasts participated from over 50 clubs, bringing with them upwards of 350 spectators who thoroughly enjoyed quality work throughout the long weekend. The great and good came to support with visits from The Worshipful the Deputy Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Eric Hotson, Paul Garber, President of British Gymnastics, Brian Stocks CEO British Gymnastics, Eddie Van Hoof British Performance Director and Barrie Collie, National Performance Coach for boys.
Our photographer Helen Cooper took over 8000 pictures during the weekend. The best are available from her website www.acerphotoart.com Many thanks Helen for your continued support.
Kent County Key Steps Final
Thursday saw the Kent County Key Steps Final organised by Development officer Lynn Ptter and the Ashford and Mid-Kent School Sports Partnership. Some excellent work in now appearing in the schools and as the programme continues to roll with more trained teachers and support from clubs and their coaches this can only get better.
Winning Schools
Years 1 & 2 1st Brabourne CEP School, 2nd St Stephens Infants, 3rd Ethelbert Road
Years 3 & 4 1st Minterne Junior School, 2nd St Stephens Junior School, 3rd St Johns CEP School
Years 5 & 6 1st Minterne Junior School, 2nd Brabourne CEP School, 3rd Bysing Wood Primary School
Floor & Event
This competition ensures that all levels of competition are covered within the Pegasus Open weekend. For many of the gymnasts this will be their first experience of competition in a full size venue with top quality International apparatus. We were delighted to welcome gymnasts from Canterbury in the boy’s development event, which is closely linked to the Club and Coach Development programme jointly funded by Gymnastics England and Pegasus Gymnastics Club.
Winners
Development F&V Boys: Oliver Wroe, Development Girls: Aisling Day, Novice: Anderida Clough
Intermediate:Christie Lee Pullen, Bronze: Hannah Wallace, Silver: Maria Clarke
Development Men's Artistic - Friday
The boy’s development event is linked to the Club and Coach Development programme jointly funded by Gymnastics England and Pegasus Gymnastics Club. Numbers this year doubled and the standard almost did likewise! Adam Tobin at under 8 almost completed a clean sweep of overall and apparatus gold missing out only on Pommel. Sapphire dominated the Under 9’s taking Gold and Silver overall with some outstanding work on Floor from Lewis Irons, the eventual winner. Round 2 and the excitement rose with the soaring temperature as Pegasus gymnasts extended leads in both the under 11 and Under 12 sections. Rapturous applause accompanied their walk to the rostrum with James Lamb pipping club mate Joseph McMorrow to the Gold at under 11 and Joseph Beretta winning the older age group.
Boys Development Champions
Under 8 Adam Tobins - Falcons
Under 9 Lewis Irons - Sapphire
Under 10 James Lamb - Pegasus
Under 11 Joseph Beretta – Pegasus
Under 12 Mathew Post – Pipers Vale
Men's Artistic - Saturday
An early start Saturday saw the centre buzzing well before 8.00am. Talent abounded. Brinn Bevan set an early lead which none of the other under 12’s could touch. A youngster with prodigious talent a super attitude and a delight to watch was a worthy all round winner. Waveney and Pipers Vale combined for the team event and with 4 boys in the top 7 were run away winners, some 8 marks ahead of Baskervilles in second place.
The audience warmed to the seniors who demonstrated some prodigious skills, twisting double somersaults, release and catch on High Bar and strength combinations on Rings that could easily challenge Britain’s strongest man. Cameron McKenzie triumphed to take yet another title home to Huntingdon.
The under 16 event included several members of the Slovakian National squad but such is the current standard in Britain that Ivan Vargovsky could only manage Bronze overall behind Alex Brailsford, Huntingdon and winner Thomas Gibbs from Heathrow. Competition for the under 14 title was hotter than the venue with Antony Wise (South Essex), Matthew Liddiard (Notts), Tom Defina (Woking), Courtney Tulloch & James Hall (Pegasus) all with a chance of glory. The lead swapped with each rotation but an awesome display on Rings put Courtney Tulloch back in the chase after falling from Pommel. The field narrowed but closest rival Antony Wise was unable to catch him, Courtney running out the overall champion a mark clear and a mere 0.55 from the magic 80.00!
Men's Champions
Under 10 – Loukas Jones - Leeds
Under 12 – Brinn Bevan – South Essex
Under 14 – Courtney Tulloch - Pegasus
Under 16 – Thomas Gibbs - Heathrow
Open – Cameron McKenzie - Huntingdon
Boys Under 12 Teams 1st Waveney & Pipers Vale 2nd Baskervilles 3rd Dynamo
Women's Artistic - Sunday
Saturday's competition ended (early), down came the Men’s apparatus, in went the Beam and asymmetric bars and the scene was set for yet another successful day with slick organisation succeeding in completing the four rounds ahead of time.
Di
minuti
ve 8 year olds demonstrated control and elegance with some outstanding work from Tamara Ballancore from Summerfields taking top spot overall and three apparatus Golds. Some very talented youngsters from Pegasus were touting for glory in the 2nd round. Crisp, classy and apparently glued to the beam they swung and danced their way to the rostrum with Megan Nathan taking Silver all round, behind a phenomenal talent Sasha Winton from Phoenix. Several of the older girls were warming up for the British with some fabulous work from the highly talented Francesca Vincent and Amy Middleton from Horsham and Claire Stocks from Huntingdon. Horsham continues to produce excellence across the board taking home all the golds: Francesca Overall and Floor, Amy Vault and Jocelyn Hunt Bars and Beam. The Slovenian girls demonstrated gymnastics doesn’t end at 20 with Tamara Glazar winning silver on Beam and Floor. In the final round it was clear in the warm up that last year’s champion Lydia Burgess from Horsham was taking no prisoners. Technically accurate with abundant artistry and fabulous focus she just gets better and better, winning the overall title, gold on Beam and Floor together with silver on Vault and Bars!
Girls Voluntary Champions
8 years Tamara Ballancore - Summerfields
9 years Sasha Winton - Phoenix
10 / 11 years - Lydia Burgess – Horsham
12 / 13 years – Eleanor Clifford - Colchester
14 years & over Francesca Vincent– Horsham
To download results please click here
Super Week In Slovenia
Pegasus Gymnastics, which has developed a close relationship with the Slovenian Federation, travelled to Maribor for a week of training, competition and the opportunity to watch the Worlds best at close range. The Salumnov Memorial Cup, a multi national competition linked to the Grand Prix in Maribor was extended to girls for the first time. A great format as it is the only time that the boys and girls have enjoyed competing in the same arena at the same time.
Near faultless routines from several of the girls brought excellent scores on Floor and Beam despite lower difficulty values than the majority of their rivals. High quality dance captured the attention of audience and coaches, who were seen to stop in awe at the expression and musicality of such very young competitors. Simple but well executed bar routines and vaults enabled the Pegasus girls to make the rostrum in 3rd place in a highly talented field of gymnasts several years their senior.
The battle for honours in the boy’s event was tough. The Austrians showed a depth of talent, from more mature gymnasts, who looked almost invincible. Team competitions however are won and post on the lowest counting score! The Pegasus team was steady all round with little to deduct and some excellent work particularly on Floor. High Bar could have cost the dear with few of the Maidstone team able to match the Austrians for difficulty and conceding a massive deficit of almost 6 marks! James Hall and Courtney Tulloch anchored the team which secured a fantastic 1st place. Individually both Courtney and James achieved personal best scores with James Hall taking the Bronze medal and Courtney winning the Championship.
Fantastic results which brought praise and comment from many different delegations including: Romania requesting a joint training camp; Macedonia inviting Pegasus to a competition, Croatia and Slovakia offering superb training opportunities. Wow! what a week.
Pegasus Teams
Girls: Ellie Gooding, Megan Tomlin, Harriet Malloy, Harriet Day, Lucy Fitzsimons
Boys: Courtney Tulloch, James Hall, James Owen, Adam Deans, James Lamb, Joseph McMorrow, Joseph Beretta.
Coaches: Ionut Trandaburu, Jennie Deadman
International Success
Austrian Future Cup
Courtney Tulloch flew to Austria with the British Team to compete in the prestigious international team event to support the development of future stars. His recent rise in national ranking saw him selected to compete in the under 16 category despite being only just 13. Well prepared and rising to the challenge Courtney notched up a superb end to the year with excellent routines on all apparatus to gain the top execution marks in his age group finishing 5th in the large and highly talented field of older boys. His national team mates also came up trumps so taking Silver medal in the International team event, ahead of Belgium, with Japan in the Gold medal position.
1st Japan - 242.10 2nd Great Britain - 234.05 3rd Belgium Royal 233.35
National Award
Photo Credit: Helen Cooper
The National Awards Dinner held in London on Saturday 1st November was a celebration of the significant and sustained progress of Men’s Gymnastics during the 4 years of the Olympic Cycle, which ended in Beijing with Great Britain’s first Olympic gymnastics medal for a hundred years! The occasion acknowledged and recognised those who serve the sport at all levels from the grass roots to Olympic success.
The thousands of volunteers in clubs, classes and committees without whom Men’s Gymnastics would not be in the position it is today, with the respect and envy of the World for our individual talents, our team depth and a programme that is going to qualify a team for 2012.
The Patron of British Gymnastics, Lord Gainsborough and Countess Gainsborough were there to honour the award winners, who were asked to accept it on behalf of the “many who help you and carry back to your clubs and colleagues the thanks of the National Men’s Technical Committee”.
Peter Griffin, the Chairman of Pegasus Gymnastics in Bearsted, received a special award as part of the events team for his “immense dedication and commitment” spending 2 – weekends a month and much of his annual leave supporting Regional, National and International Men’s events. He has played a crucial role of development of computer scoring programmes & systems now challenging for European and World events.
