Starting the long journey home after an awesome holiday in the UK. Took in the sights of london, the stunning views in the Western Scottish Highlands and an interesting climb of Ben Nevis. However that wasnt the purpose of the trip, myself, Rachel and Ash came to see the Commonwealth games and to support Mathew Palmer who was competing at the games. We sort of became pseudo groupies to Matt and his team mates as we followed them through the various stages of their gymnastics competition. These five young men have boldly gone where many of us wouldnt or couldnt dare to go. I am in awe of their skill and dedication to their sport, so let me explain. For a start, they are an impressive sight, fine phyical specimens with well developed and extremely powerful builds that havent lifted an ounce of iron, its all been done the hard way, training for years in the sport they clearly love. They represented New Zealand in a most skillful and spectacular way and for a relatively small squad, got two into the finals and one with a Bronze medal. They have presented a profile of fine examples of young New Zealanders on the world stage. Bear with me while I stand on my soap box for a minute. They wore Black and the silver fern emblem for their country emblazoned alongside the logo of their Chinese sponsor. Chinese sponsor! Yup and even their national airline couldnt spring them a seat or two as they travelled to the other side of the world and back on a Chinese airline. Yes I know it doesnt grab as much NZ limelight as another popular kiwi sport (the one that keeps womans refuge in business), but cmon Kiwis, for the sake of a bit of kiwi attire and a few airline seats, we could have truly called their achievements home grown. Anyway, rant over and all I really want say is thank-you to Mathew Palmer and his team mates for being the reason that I had a great UK holiday. Well done.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 08:12:48 +0000
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