Caitlin Rooskrantz cannot wait to take on the world’s best at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
The 18-year-old is fearless on the bar but will also compete on vault, beam and floor come July and August. Rooskrantz lives in Florida North and attends Parktown High School for Girls. “I am really excited about the Olympics,” the youngster smiled in between practice at Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre in Newlands.
“I want to get experience on the biggest stage, get through injury-free and have fun.”
The youngster rues missing out on the Youth Olympics because of her age by the time it came around in 2018. She did, however, compete at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Namibia in 2016 and finished second overall. Rooskrantz followed this up with a gold in the bar at the World Cup in Hungary in September last year.
“I plan to have one more cycle after this and compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2024 Summer Olympics.”
Her head coach, Ilse Pelser believes Rooskrantz has a good chance at getting a top finish in the bar at the Olympics.
“I have been training Caitlin for 10 years and her favourite and best discipline is the bar,” Pelser said.
“Caitlin has a fantastic work ethic and attitude. She never misses practice and puts in hard work day-in and day-out. I want her to mark no falls [at the Olympics] and she has a good chance of making it to the Paris 2024 [Summer Olympics].”
Details: Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre jgcgymnastics@absamail.co.za; 083 634 6164.
Article by Nicholas Zaal
