Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott, who will be just over 14 when she competes at the Commonwealth Games in October, is seen as a strong prospect for the 2012 Olympics in London. Photo / Martin Sykes
New Zealand has selected its youngest athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games with the naming of diver Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott.
Armstrong-Scott, a year 10 student at St Catherine's College in Wellington, will represent New Zealand in the 10m platform and 1m springboard events.
She will be 14 years and 34
days old when the Games start at New Delhi in India on October 3.
Nikki Jenkins, who won gold at the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990, was the previous youngest competitor at 14 years and seven months.
Swimmer Danyon Loader, who went on to win two Olympic Games gold medals, was 14 years and nine months old at the Auckland Games.
Diving high performance manager Luvaine McDonald said Armstrong-Scott's selection was significant.
"The Commonwealth Games are an elite event in the sport of diving with Australia, Canada and Malaysia producing some of the world's top divers," she said.
"For a minority New Zealand sport, her selection, resulting from current performance, is significant."
McDonald credits coach Steven Zhu, originally from China, as well as a strong team of sponsors and professionals behind Armstrong-Scott.
"With private funding we were able to bring Steven to Wellington. He has coached medal-winning Chinese Olympians and we are seeing his work with Gabrielle pay off."
Armstrong-Scott trains 22 hours each week, with sessions before and after school, and is focused on executing more difficult dives to increase her ability to score well.
Although selection criteria for the Games is a top six ranking, Armstrong-Scott sits just outside this, at ninth in the Commonwealth.
New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary-general Barry Maister believes flexibility in her case is warranted. "The level of competition within diving at the Commonwealth is extremely high and Olympic medallists will be among those competing at New Delhi," he said.
"These factors, combined with Gabrielle's age, rate of improvement and the fact she is competing in a non-funded sport, contributed to the selectors' decision. She is a strong prospect for the [2012] London Olympic Games and beyond."
- NZPA
