Pinetown gymnast ‘reigns’ gold
Charles Phillips has been honing his craft at the Pinetown gymnasium since he was nine years old.
PINETOWN’S talented Charles Phillips was named Sportsman of the Year 2018 at the recent South African Gymnastics Federation’s (SAGF) awards dinner in Johannesburg,
The 29-year-old has been doing gymnastics at the Pinetown gym for 20 years and started competing internationally in 2012.
In July last year he attended the Down Syndrome World Gymnastics Championships in Bochum, Germany.
At the event he claimed a gold medal for parallel bars and silver medals for rings, horizontal bar and vault routines and came in third overall.
The local athlete also recently competed at the British Open Down Syndrome Gymnastics Championships in Leicester England where he won gold medals for each of the six disciplines and was also crowned the British Open Champion.
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Charles is dedicated to gymnastics and quickly rises above any challenges that may potentially stand in his way. He trains with fierce determination and encourages his coach, Allan Chadwick, to push and challenge him in any way possible.
He takes every opportunity to learn from international experts and fellow teammates day in and day out.
His hard work and determination has seen him consistently win medals internationally as well as improve year by year.
“Charles is an inspiration to all around him and is living proof that nothing is impossible and everything is possible in gymnastics,” said a proud Tony Phillips.
His next international competition is at the Trisome Games in Antalya, Turkey in April 2020.
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