Young Crowthorne gymnast wins Sunlight’s #RaiseTheBarNextGen campaign, chasing Olympic dream
Ten-year-old gymnast Zuri Ntim-Frempong has been named a national winner in Sunlight’s #RaiseTheBarNextGen campaign as she continues working towards her dream of competing at the Olympics.
At just 10 years old, gymnast Zuri Ntim-Frempong already has her eyes set on a big goal: Representing South Africa at the 2032 Olympic Games.
The young athlete from Crowthorne, who attends ESCA Wanderers Sports School, was recently named one of the national winners of Sunlight’s #RaiseTheBarNextGen campaign, a nationwide initiative celebrating young South Africans using their talents to inspire others.
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Instead of performing a dance routine, she chose to share her story through a rap, expressing her determination to raise the bar in gymnastics and pursue her Olympic dream, which also showed how multi-talented she is, and that, besides gymnastics, Ntim-Frempong is also a lover of art.
Zuri started doing gymnastics in 2020. Driven by seeing other people do gymnastics, she knew that she would become one herself.
Her passion for gymnastics shows in her daily routine, where she trains between three and five hours a day, six days a week.
In 2025, she became a national champion in her gymnastics level, cementing her place as one of the country’s promising young talents. “I am currently in level 7, and I would love to see myself in level 8. I love seeing my growth in gymnastics, because, at first, I used to be attended to and supervised a lot, now I get to just do stuff on my own, without a lot of supervision.”
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This year, Zuri is focused on earning selection for South Africa’s Africa Region 5 gymnastics team, an important stepping stone for young gymnasts aiming for international competition. “I want to keep improving every day. My dream is to represent South Africa and compete at the Olympics. I know it will take hard work, but I love gymnastics and I am willing to work for it.”
With the unwavering support from ESCA Wanderers Sports School and her parents, Zuri sees herself pushing to the stars, and achieving all the goals she has.
Her father, Archie Ntim-Frempong, said it is easy to have Zuri be a gymnast because this is what she loves doing. As parents, they never have to push her. All they ever have to do is to support her, which is good.He also added they used to worry, as parents, that the long hours of training would tire her, but it seems like she enjoys them, waking up early in the morning to get started with her day as an athlete.
Zuri hopes her story will inspire other young girls to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams.
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