Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to recognise Kelsie O'Neil, Mykenna Collier and Allegra Fosteris—three extraordinary young women from the Oak Flats Albion Park Gymnastics and Acrobatics Club, which is in my electorate of Whitlam. Kelsie, Mykenna and Allegra have been selected to represent Australia in the senior women's group event at the world cup in Belgium. This is a major competition that is part of the International Gymnastics Federation world cup series. This talented trio, representing New South Wales, won the senior international women's group competition at last year's Australian Gymnastics Championships. They not only won the all-round title; they also secured gold in the balance, dynamic and combined routines. Their success highlights the fact that they are not only elite gymnasts as individuals; they also are able to combine superbly as a team at the highest level.

There have been setbacks over the past year, but they have fought back from injuries and trained extremely hard, including for 20 hours a week in a hot tin shed over summer, to win selection for this prestigious international competition. Tomorrow night is their last training session in Australia before they fly out. On behalf of everyone in the electorate of Whitlam, I would like to wish Kelsie, Mykenna and Allegra all the very best as they represent their club, their state and their country at the world cup.

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