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At 17, Kaisey Griffith is 'old' for her sport and is looking to retire this year. The 'Golden Girl of Gymnastics' is arguably the greatest ever to put on a leotard for Bermuda.

She added to her fame last summer when she won eight golds and a silver at the Island Games in Aland.

More than 1,000 votes were cast and Kaisey was selected as the Bermuda Sun's Young Sports Personality of Year. This is the second time she has won the award, first walking off with the honour back in 2007 when she again dominated headlines by winning a fistful of gold at the Island Games. In her career she's won 19 golds at three Island Games.

Here she talks to Don Burgess about her year and her impending retirement.

What does it mean to you to win this award for the second time?

It means a lot. It's always good to be recognized for something you've done. Being nominated twice and winning, really says something about the people around me. They really have respect for what I do.

You've done it so many times before, but does it ever get old winning all those gold medals?

I know people expect it, but I don't always expect it from myself. I just go out and try to do my best. I won eight gold medals and I really wasn't expecting to win that many. I told my friend about it and she said 'So basically you came in first in every single event?' I didn't even think of it that way.

Do you feel any added pressure because people expect you to win gold?

I feel a lot of pressure, especially with concentrating on school, I wasn't too sure on how well I'd do. Once I got there and got my head into the game, it wasn't too bad.

Did the pressure mount with each successive gold medal to go out and win the next one or did it get easier to build upon success?

It didn't build up for each event because there were three days of competition. On the first day we won the team gold. I had to think of each day individually and that helped me a lot. I couldn't say "I did well two days ago, I'm really going to do well today.' It's really hard to do three competitions in a week.

What's your favourite event and why?

My favourite event used to be beam because it was the easiest for me, but I like floor as well because I like routines to the music. It allows me to really to show off to the audience what I can do. My favourite medal was the SET floor competition because everyone starts off with the same value of 13.5. I scored a 13.3 and that meant a lot to me because that meant I only got two-tenths of a deduction. It was pretty close to a perfect routine and I take a lot of pride in that.

As an older member of the team, how much are you able to help the younger gymnasts?

That's especially true this year because I was in heavy training last year all the way up to the end of October when I went to Worlds. Now I can kind of slow down on the training and help the little ones. I can see they are getting very good in their skills, especially with our new coaches 'Duke' Bob Nellingan. He's really good and I just try to help where I can.

What was Worlds like to you?

It was truly an unforgettable experience. When I first got there I was really excited but also kind of nervous about competing with everybody. I got sick two days before the competition and I was really scared. I was breaking down and crying. The actual competition wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I surprised myself at what I could do. I finished 75th overall out of around 146. Before I left to compete in London coach Tina Williams was saying "We'll aim to finish in the top 100. That will be our goal.' I was thinking somewhere in the 90s and when the final scores came up and I was 75th, I was really shocked because I had been sick. I played it safe and wasn't trying to do my best because I had been sick. I couldn't breathe properly and I was huffing and puffing at the end. I was just shocked.

It was your first World Championships. What was it like being with all the best gymnasts?

At first it was really intimidating. We were there a week before the competition so we had training sessions where everyone was training in one gym. It was kind of intimidating watching the better gymnasts with the better skills. I had to keep reminding myself, I'm here for me and I can't pay attention to everybody else, I have to worry about myself and I can do this.

How long have you been doing gymnastics?

Since I was four. I'm 17 now. My mom signed me up as something to do after school. I started off at the Gilbert Institute. The coach there was really excited and told my mom she had to sign me up for gymnastics at Whitney. I was there a couple of months, then they moved me up to the base for competitive gymnastics. My mom was worried about me getting hurt, but the coaches really saw the potential in me so she didn't mind.

What sort of sacrifices have you had to make to compete at a high level?

I did do a couple of other sports when I was younger like netball and akido. I was only able to reach my yellow belt but I had to quit because my training interfered with gymnastics.

Where are you going to university?

I'm not sure yet. I've applied to five schools in the U.K. and so far I've heard back from four of them. I've still yet to apply to Canada. I want to go to Newcastle to study accounting. If I don't go to the U.K. I'd like to go to the University of Western Ontario.

Are you planning on continuing gymnastics when you go away to university?

I thought about it long and hard. Obviously if I got a scholarship for gymnastics, I wouldn't pass that up. I have looked at some schools in the U.S. because that's the main place they offer gymnastics scholarships, but that doesn't really seem like an option for me.

I'm just going to finish out this year and retire. Usually by the time you're 16 girls retire so I'm considered old to be doing gymnastics.

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