New Zealand has selected its youngest ever athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games today with the naming of Diver Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott to the team.
Armstrong-Scott, a year ten student at St Catherines College in Wellington, will represent New Zealand in the 10 metre platform and one metre springboard aged just fourteen years and thirty-four days when the games open on 3 October.
Nikki Jenkins, who won gold at the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990, was the previous youngest competitor at fourteen years and seven months. Danyon Loader, who holds the greatest number of Commonwealth Games swimming medals, was fourteen years and nine months at the Auckland Games.
Diving High Performance Manager Luvaine McDonald says Armstrong-Scotts selection is significant for diving. The Commonwealth Games are an elite event in the sport of diving with Australia, Canada and Malaysia producing some of the worlds top divers, she said. For a minority New Zealand sport, her selection, resulting from current performance, is significant.
McDonald credits coach Steven Zhu, originally from China, as well as a strong team of sponsors and professionals behind Armstrong-Scott. With private funding we were able to bring Steven to Wellington. He has coached medal-winning Chinese Olympians and we are seeing his work with Gabrielle pay-off.
Armstrong-Scott trains 22 hours each week with sessions taking place before and after school and is focused on executing more difficult dives to increase her ability to score well.
While the selection criteria for the Commonwealth Games is a top six ranking, Armstrong-Scott sits just outside this, ranked currently ninth in the Commonwealth. New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general Barry Maister believes flexibility in Armstrong-Scotts case is warranted. The level of competition within diving at the Commonwealth is extremely high and Olympic medalists will be among those competing at Delhi, he said. These factors, combined with Gabrielles age, rate of improvement and the fact she is competing in a non-funded sport, contributed to the selectors decision. She is a strong prospect for the London Olympic Games and beyond.
Armstrong-Scott will head to Tuscon, Arizona this September for the Junior World Championships as part of her pre-games build-up.
In addition to her success as a diver, Armstrong-Scott is an accomplished violinist.
New Zealand has sent a total of 33 divers to Commonwealth Games between Hamilton (Canada) 1930 and Manchester 2002. New Zealanders have won four bronze Commonwealth medals: 1950 (Auckland Jack Stewart, 1m springboard), 1954 (Vancouver Jack Stewart, 1m springboard), 1982 (Brisbane, Mark Graham, 1m springboard) and 1990 (Auckland Nicky Cooney, 1m springboard).
The total Commonwealth Games squad is expected to number 195 athletes and 100 support staff. The team will come together to honour Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The final selections will be made in early August and the Commonwealth Games take place in Delhi, India, October 3 14 2010.
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