At the end of September last year, a Grade 6 pupil at Maragon Private School, Riccardo Colandrea, competed in the South African National Gymnastic Games in Pretoria. There he qualified to represent his country at the 2013 Serbian International Men’s Artistic Gymnastics competition which took place in Novi Sad, Serbia, in December 2013.
He and his fellow gymnasts, who made up the South African Gymnastics Federation, competed against 15 countries, most of which are located in Eastern and Central Europe.
Colandrea competed against gymnasts significantly older then himself. Despite this, the first day of the competition ended with the young athlete achieving the best results for his team, where he was awarded third place. “Considering that his competitors were older than him, these results were excellent,” said marketing manager of Maragon Private Schools Belinda Espag.
Due to his fantastic results achieved on the first day, Colandrea qualified to compete in the individual competitions the following day, where he took part in five of the six disciplines. He won a silver medal for parallel bars and a bronze medal for his performance on the rings.
Espag said the school is extremely proud of his achievements. “He wore his South African colours with pride and dignity, and we wish him the very best for this year again.”
Details: www.maragon.co.za, 011 958 0707.
