Beijing top goal for NZ gymnasts
by Becky Tappin
New Zealand’s two top male gymnasts, Mark Holyoake and Daniel Good, are starting their build-up to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 - albeit a little later than most other sports.
Both gymnasts are training approximately 30 hours a week at Tri Star Gymnastics club in Mount Roskill, to ready themselves for the challenge of international competition.
Their journey begins with a trip to Shanghai this week to compete in the Shanghai World Cup, an apparatus only competition, where both Holyoake and Good will compete in their two best events only.
“It is a great chance for us to see where we are at with our routines and to gauge how we rate against gymnasts from around the world, which is important in preparation for the world champs,” says Daniel Good.
Their next big international competition is the World Championships in Stuttgart on September 1, where they will square off against the top gymnasts from around the world. This event is also the qualifying competition for the Olympics in Beijing next year.
Both gymnasts competed in this competition last year, “It is always an amazing experience to compete at the World Champs against the best of the best, but we cannot be overwhelmed by it if we want to qualify for Beijing.” says Holyoake, 24.
Holyoake and Good must finish in the top 60 to qualify and represent New Zealand at what will be their first Olympics and to become New Zealand’s first male gymnasts in the Games since David Phillips at Sydney in 2000.
“Both Mark and I will probably be too old to compete in the next Olympics in 2012, and to compete at the Olympics is the biggest goal for any athlete, so for us it is now or never.” says Good.