Team Argentina flying high

DOHA: Veteran Argentine gymnast Ayelen Tarabini, in Doha for her fourth World Championships, is seriously excited about the long-term prospects for team-mate Martina Dominici.

In the past 12 months, Dominici has won the prestigious junior competition Top Gym, claimed Argentina’s first gold medal in women’s Gymnastics at a South American Championships for 20 years, and reached the All-Around final at the Pan American Championships.

Not bad for a 16 year old and it is all thanks to the power of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), according to Tarabini.

“Gymnastics in Argentina is going through a very good moment and it’s been really helped by the YOG,” Tarabini says.

“Martina’s success is a result of investment made in Gymnastics because of the YOG.”

Born in 2002, Dominici was a year too old to compete in her home city of Buenos Aires, but she and the rest of the senior squad went to watch the women’s All-around final.

“It was so good to be there,” Dominici smiles, before quickly adding: “But we didn’t go to anything else because it clashed with training. We have been so focused on this.”

The teenager is quietly confident about her prospects at the World Championships in Doha.

It’s perhaps not a surprise to hear her saying a spot in the top 24 of the team competition is well within Argentina’s grasp, but her next statement is indicative of just where she is at.

“Individually I am aiming to qualify for the all-around final in Doha,” she said.

The teenager’s triumph at the 2017 Top Gym competition in Belgium was the first step in Dominici’s transformation into a genuine contender on the world stage. And it surprised even her.

“I went just for the experience, to get to know the Europeans and understand how they compete and then I ended up winning,” Dominici says, laughing.

For Tarabini, who is 10 years Dominici’s senior and says she feels like her “sister or even mother”, Doha 2018 will be the first of many World Championships for the protégé. “She has a great future ahead of her, she is really that good,” Tarabini said.

“Already she is an inspiration for the younger generation, and her family are great too and really supportive, which is key.”