The academy took delivery of its first load of gymnastic equipment from the Rio Olympics.
"It is very exciting. We have had the first container-load of our Rio Olympics equipment arrive, which is the matting that goes around all the pieces of equipment," Dunedin Gymnastics Academy [DGA] president Louise Taylor said.
It is top-quality matting, used just once at a certain tournament in Brazil last year. The next time a Dunedin athlete is cushioned after falling, they might be landing on the mat used to protect American champion Simone Biles. She scooped four gold medals and a bronze medal at Rio in a sensational performance, so it is pretty good motivation.
"There is a huge amount of excitement around the gym. The kids are just absolutely fizzing, especially when you lift up the mat you see the chalk coming off which was used by the Olympic gymnasts."
More equipment is expected to arrive in Auckland in the next day or so and will take about two weeks to be processed before being transported to Dunedin.
It is wonderful news for the academy which has had its share of rotten luck. Traces of asbestos were discovered at two of the DGA’s facilities last year.
It was forced to permanently abandon its Willis St gym in May, and then had to temporarily move out of the Vogel St gym in September after traces of asbestos were found on some surfaces thereThe DGA wrote off $150,000 worth of equipment when it walked away from Willis St, and between 300 to 400 gymnasts were affected by the temporary closure at Vogel St.
The arrival of the Olympic equipment has provided a morale boost for the membership.
"It took a lot of work and the generosity of a lot of people to make it happen. Now that it is actually arriving, it is extremely exciting," Taylor said.
