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Gymnast Gemma strikes gold

Bermuda gymnast Gemma Lightbourne claimed four golds in the rhythmic gymnastics competition at the USAIGC International Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Lightbourne, a former member of the Scottish national rhythmic team, was in a league of her own as she performed with the ribbon, ball, and the clubs and received near perfect scores in each event.The 30-gymnast squad was the largest sent to the championships by the Bermuda Gymnastics Association, and each girl had to earn a qualifying score of 33.0 to participate.In the Platinum level competition, Morgan Beckles, 17, won the all-around on day one with a 36.50 and also claimed the vaulting and floor gold medals, with a 9.35 and 9.4 respectively.Morgan Cleave, a former BGA gymnast currently training in the UK, qualified for all four event finals, finishing fourth on floor with an 8.7.Bermuda had seven gymnasts competing in the Gold level, with Sadia Wilson, 11, Zantae Dill, 13, and Sydney Mason all reaching finals.In the Silver level Tomei Talbot, 11, shone in the floor finals with a 9.25 for the bronze medal.Chantae Wilson, 9, won bronze on the beam (9.2) and silver on floor (9.25) in the Bronze level.The championships capped off the competitive season for Bermuda’s team, who had travelled to Boston, Manhattan, Chicago, and Rhode Island for meets and had also hosted their very first invitational meet at the St David’s National Training Centre in March.Eleven of Bermuda’s top gymnasts will travel to the University of Maryland next week to attend an intensive training camp with top collegiate coaches and gymnasts, and several of the younger athletes will be travelling to Woodward Camp in Pennsylvania next month.The team are also currently fundraising to support a team to travel to South Africa in October to participate in an international event, the second USAIGC event to be held outside of the USA.The Bermuda International Gymnastics Challenge will then return to St David’s on January 12.For full results visit www.bermudagymnastics.com.