Gymnastics: Medal sweep gymnasts have bright future

Published on Friday 3 July 2009 10:00

LOTHIANS gymnasts are gearing up to take on the cream of the British crop after a great performance in the recent Women's Artistic Scottish Gymnastics Championships, writes CAMERON SCOTT.

Andrew Ramage, committee member at Lasswade Gymnastics Club – whose A team took the overall silver medal – described the haul as "the best we've had in our history".

It came after rising star Holly Ramage, 13, walked away from the showcase event, held in Perth, with gold medals in the vault and floor disciplines as well as a silver in the bar discipline.

Juvenile competitor Eilidh Craig, 11, who also attends the Midlothian club, emerged with an overall silver medal in the Espoir standings after capturing two gold medals and two bronze medals. Kendal Smith added to the celebrations by winning two bronze medals in conjunction with a silver picked up on the beam.

"These were fantastic achievements by the gymnasts and coaches involved," said Andrew Ramage.

Holly and Eilidh are now set to travel down to Cardiff for the UK School Games in September, along with team-mate Robyn Russell, 13, where Scotland will be keen to improve on last year's third-place finish. But Ramage insisted that the task would be far easier said than done.

"I think we are going to find it tough. England and Wales are very strong," he said. Holly, who finished in 24th place overall in last year's games and seventh in 2007, travels to Guildford this weekend to compete in the British Championships. The youngster is looking for a strong performance with the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 and Glasgow 2014 as future targets.