South African gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz just made history by becoming the first South African Gold Medallist at a FIG World Cup/Challenge Cup. This win places Rooskrantz in a great position to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
The 17-year-old initially qualified fourth in the uneven bars at the FIG Challenge World Cup in Szombathely‚ Hungary. She then pushed herself even further to win the gold with a total score of 13.333.
“Caitlin is one of our Olympic high-performance gymnasts who has displayed huge improvement in her results and is a great prospect for the future‚” the South African Gymnastics Federation said in a statement on Thursday.
Watch her gold-medal performance here:
“It’s still sinking in. But, yeah, I didn’t even know that no South African had ever, you know, won a gold medal,” Rooskrantz told the Daily Maverick. “After I stood on the podium, then came off, my coach was crying. And, you know, they told me that I just made history, because no South African has ever won gold; the closest was silver. But as much as I’m really proud of myself, I feel that I’ve really opened doors for future South African gymnasts.”
Picture: Facebook