African Gymnastics Update

South African gymnast Kirsten Beckett, ran in the Queen's Baton Relay on February 13th. Similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, the Queen's Baton Relay is held prior to the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014. Beckett received the torch from Luvoyo Mandela, great grandson of late South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela, just before a Madiba statue (above). She was recently interviewed by BBC and the documentary should be available on BBC Worldwide on Wednesday.
More photos ; APF Interview with Kirsten Beckett


The 12th African Gymnastics Championships are to be held in Tshwane, South Africa on March 24-30 of 2014. The South African Gymnastics Federation is busy organizing for the event. There is an African Gymnastics Championships account on youtube posting great videos that include athlete profiles, gym profiles, and information about the different events. They also provide some behind the scene footage - like the making of the 2014 calendar that is a big source of advertisement - as well as a 12th AGC Trailer (below).



Nicole Szabo represented South Africa at the 2013 World Championships after flying far from family and friends and starting her freshman year at the University of Illinois - Chicago. She is an asset to the UIC team on uneven bars, beam, and floor with her best score being a 9.825 on the uneven bars. Here she is scoring a 9.775 at Chicago Style on February 7.



Egypt is hosting their qualification for the AGC this week. Brestyan gymnast and future Rutgers gymnast Aya Mahgoub is in Egypt hoping to earn a spot on the team.