Over 960 of the country’s best gymnasts have converged on ILT Stadium Southland to contest the 2016 New Zealand Gymsports Championships – and the impressive venue has them doing backflips.

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National titles in all five disciplines – rhythmic, aerobics, trampoline and men’s and women’s artistic – will be awarded during the five-day fixture which startstomorrow(Wednesday).

GymSports NZ chief executive Tony Compier said ILT Stadium Southland had exceeded the expectations of competitors and officials alike.

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“I must admit, when Nigel and the team at ILT Stadium Southland told us ‘sure, we can handle a thousand athletes, five different sports, and over 50 hours of competition across 5 days’, I was interested to see how this could be done,” he said.

“It has been fantastic to see how the potential of the venue has been translated into the magnificent arena our athletes will now compete in. I am delighted that Nigel, the team, the city of Invercargill and indeed the wider region of Southland have fully delivered on our expectations and embraced the spirit of our flagship event.”

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GymSports NZ performance pathway and communications manager Anna Robertson said it was the biggest event on the organisation’s calendar.

“When the competitors walked into the stadium today, it took their breath away,” she said. “There’s very few venues in the country where we can host all five sports in one place so this is really special.

“To take it out of Auckland and bring it all the way to the other end of the country, there’s a real feeling of community which has come with it.”

Robertson hoped Southlanders would take the opportunity to see elite athletes in action, including 19-year-old trampolinist Dylan Schmidt who placed seventh at the Rio Olympics.

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“Generally people think of gymnastics as the beam and the vault but there is so much more across all five sports, I think people will be surprised at the energy and tricks they will see,” she said. The Invercargill Licensing Trust contributed $30,000 to assist with staging it in the city. ILT president Alan Dennis said it highlighted the flexibility of ILT Stadium Southland as a venue. “We often hear the phrase ‘world-class’ linked to our stadium and when you see the calibre of the set up for this event you soon realise it’s a pretty apt description,” he said.

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“You’d be hard pressed to find another venue capable of executing it to this high standard and we should be very proud of the asset we have right here.”

Preparation for the event started as far back as January with the stadium installing the necessary anchor points for the apparatus. Equipment from clubs around the country was packed into two containers and two large trucks, arriving in the south on Sunday.

“It’s always a logistical challenge because there’s so much equipment and it’s never all in one place. It’s fantastic the clubs are so supportive in loaning it to us,” Robertson said.

The championships would provide “the perfect build up” for the men’s artistic team set to contest the World Cup in Hungry and the rhythmic and artistic team heading to the Junior Commonwealth Championships in Namibia. Both teams depart next week for their respective international events.

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900+ Gymnasts In Town For New Zealand Gymsports Championships

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