Bermuda win silver in gymnastics (update 1)

Bermuda’s women won silver in the team gymnastics competition. The Isle of Man topped the podium with Faroe Islands taking home bronze.

In a ceremony at the Bermuda Gymnastics centre at Southside, Bermuda Islands Games official Andrew Soares presented the medalists with their silverware along with stuffed Aceboy the Frog, the official Games’ mascot.

The Isle of Man won the seven-team competition with a score of  101.500. Bermuda 98.650 while Faroe had 93.450. Bermuda's team was comprised of Gabby Vincent, Tabytha Hofheins, Sydney Mason, Zantae Dill, Danielle Wall and Sadia Wilson.

The Isle of Man team turned in solid performances on both events, notching a 50.9 on vaulting and a 50.6 on floor. IOM's top performer on vaulting was Nicole Burns with a 12.9 and on floor was Grace Harrison with a 13.05.

Bermuda team members Gabby Vincent and Tabytha Hofheins would have liked to have won gold but were happy with silver.

Vincent said: “I feel pretty good. We tried our best and did the best we could do. There’s nothing I’d really change. We did our best so I’m happy with what we got.

“The pressure I felt today was to do well because it’s in Bermuda and we have to do well for our country.”

The women will next take to the gym on Tuesday in the FIG competition. Vincent said the squad will be expecting to win more medals in the days ahead.

“We’re really strong in floor,” she said “We have a lot of team spirit. 

Hofeins added: “We trained really hard, but we got beat by a really good team so we’re happy. You’re always disappointed when you don’t come first, you feel like we’ve worked so hard that we should, but we all know we did our best. 

“It’s an added pressure it’s in Bermuda but we know our support stands behind us in however we do.

“We’re strong on floor and vault. We’re also pretty good on beam and bars so we’ll see how it plays out (in the coming days). 

Coach Duke Nellington said this was a good start for the team.

“We expected after the 2012 Olympics, the UK would come in here strong. But little Bermuda, we’re changing the background here – we’re stepping up. We’re working harder. Our facility is world class, We now have pits. 

“The little ones coming up have watched this and said ‘I want to wear national team colours and they’re fighting for their slots. They’re fighting for the opportunity to compete.”

Nellington said it was tough to decide for the last few spots on the Bermuda team and even the girls who did not make it this team could have done a great job representing the country.