User:Karlschurmann/Jennifer Khwela

Jennifer Khwela is currently the South African champion for Senior Women's Artistic Gymnastics. She was "discovered" at a talent identification testing at her school when she was 9 years old. She displayed phenomenal talent which allowed her to rise up the ranks of gymnastics very quickly, making up for the fact that she started late compared with other high level girls who typically begin at age 5 or even earlier. She competed level 1, 5, 7 and 10, leaving out the levels in between and arrived at what was then called "olympic entry" level, followed by junior olympic the following year. In her 2nd year of junior olympic she won the national competition, making her the SA Junior Olympic Champion. She obtained higher marks than the senior champion.She then moved into senior olympic and has won that level for the past 2 years. Jennifer has competed in international competitions overseas and in South Africa and has won at least one medal every time, except for the 2008 World Championships where her highest placing was 22nd on vault. In 2008, she also gained the silver all around medallist at the African Championships and she was the only senior to win medals in all 4 apparatus finals. Jennifer's favourite apparatus is vault and she is currently upgrading her vaults with a view to improving her ranking in the Commonwealth countries (ranked 4th at present) so that she can win a medal at the Commonwealth Games later this year.

Early Years

Jennifer was born in Durban, South Africa on February 4th, 1991. She was raised mainly be her Grandmother, Rebecca Khwela (born 1941) along with several other siblings and cousins. Rebecca was the main breadwinner for an ever growing family and earning minimum wage meant that she wouldn't be able to give her grandchildren the opportunities that they desired.

But Jennifer showed an interest in Gymnastics long before the opportunity came. It was only in 2001 during a Scouting Session at Carrington Heights Primary in Umbilo, South Africa, that Gymnastics Club Owner Gail Adamson discovered Jennifer and invited her to join her club. Jennifer showed ability right from the start and has simply kept on achieving. But Jennifer nearly lost her chance at Gymnastics. The application form to register was lost, she didn't show up at the club for her first day, and the family couldn't afford the joining fees.

Realising the value of this opportunity, Rebecca made the very long walk to the club to try and make arrangements with Gail in order to ensure that Jennifer was accommodated. An agreement was met, and Jennifer was quickly put into training with Gail's daughter Julie Adamson Schürmann. Julie saw the potential in Jennifer and ensured that Jennifer got the attention and training that she needed to become a champion.

Despite starting almost five years later than most other champions of the past, Jennifer soon climbed the ranks and by 2008 became the first black Senior National Champion in Women's Artistic Gymnastics at the South African Championships held in Cape Town.

African Championships 2009 - Cairo

In February 2009, Jennifer competed in Egypt during the African Championships. Their she managed to clench 5 medals placing her at number two in Africa:

• Vault - Bronze
• Beam - Silver
• Uneven Bars - Bronze
• Floor - Bronze
• All Round - Silver

Silver on All Around and Beam, Bronze on Vault, Uneven Bars and Floor.

External links

• South African Gymnastics Federation - Profile Page [1]
• Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique - 9th Annual African Championships in Gymnastics [2]
• African Champs 2009 Results [3]
• International Gymnastics Magazine Online [4]
• Youtube Video of Uneven Bars at African Champs 2009 [5]
• GymChat Video of Floor at African Champs 2009 [6]
• Witness News Paper - Polishing a star [_id=16197]
• Your Sport 4th Qtr 2008 - pg 31 [7]
• SAGF - African Champs 2010 [8]