Since making her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021, Caitlin Rooskrantz has represented South Africa at Paris 2024, where unfortunately she picked up an injury during qualifications, which forced her to withdraw from the rest of the artistic gymnastics competition. Caitlin was the South African flag bearer at the opening ceremony in Paris alongside her South African teammate sprinter Akani Simbine. At the 2024 South African Championships in March, Caitlin became Uneven Bars and Balance Beam champion, as well as winning the Silver medal for All-Around and Floor, and has competed at a number of World Cups, qualifying for the finals. Last year, Caitlin and her South African teammates Caleigh Anders, Naveen Daries, Shante Koti and Garcelle Napier finished a historic 19th place at the World Championships in Antwerp, and Caitlin competed at her first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, coming away with the Bronze medal on Uneven Bars. Over her artistic gymnastics career so far, Caitlin has been 4x senior African champion and multi-medallist in 2016 at the Junior Commonwealth Championships, and Caitlin trains at Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre. Currently, Caitlin is on a post-Olympic break and recovering from injury, and she is also studying for her last year at university. Answering our questions, Caitlin talks about her experience at her second Olympic Games at Paris 2024, being the South African flag bearer at the opening ceremony and competing at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
You have recently competed at your second Olympic Games, what did you enjoy most about your time in Paris and staying in the athletes village?
After competing in my second Olympics, I had so many positive and exciting new experiences. The Tokyo Games were heavily impacted by COVID-19, with strict protocols in place – from isolation and testing before departure to daily COVID spit tests, social distancing, limited interactions, and no spectators. It was quite unusual.
This time around, being able to fully experience the Olympic Games felt incredibly special. I could interact with others and enjoy everything the village had to offer without the constant worry of getting sick. Having my family there in the stands to support me was also a very special highlight of this experience.
How had your competition been going before you unfortunately picked up an injury during qualifications and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition?
My competition had been going pretty good. I started off on bars, my best event with a super strong and solid set – scoring a season’s best, which I was extremely pleased with. Unfortunately, it is a high-level sport and things like this can always happen, often at the worst timing.
How did you find the experience being South Africa’s flag bearer alongside sprinter Akani Simbine at the opening ceremony?
The experience of getting to lead Team South Africa into these Olympic Games alongside Akani Simbine was truly something beyond my wildest dreams. It was so special to be standing there as South Africa’s first ever gymnast holding the flag. Gymnastics has made some tremendous strides over the last couple of years, and I believe being the flag bearer was a great testament to all that we have done as Gymnastics South Africa.
What are some of your favourite memories from making your Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021?
Some extremely special memories since debuting at my first Olympic Games include winning my first All-Around African Championship title in 2022, my Bronze medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on the Uneven Bars, being a part of the historic women’s Gold medal winning team at the 2023 African Championships, qualifying that same team to the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp 2023 and placing a historic 19th place as a team at those championships.
This year, you have competed in a number of World Cups, what were these like to compete in?
This year I managed to compete in the Antalya, Varna and Koper world cups. I managed to make Beam finals at both the Varna and Koper World cups, scoring an international PB in Varna first then going to top that with another PB in Koper. All the World Cups were a great experience and there is always so much to take away from them going forward.
You became the Uneven Bars and Balance Beam champion and won Silver in the All-Around and on Floor at the 2024 South African Championships in March, how was this?
This was a very exciting competition and good start off to my 2024 season. Coming off of 2023 National champ, I was excited to go back in and show all that I had been working on while still starting off lighter in some areas.
At the World Championships last year, South Africa finished a historic 19th place in the Team event, what was it like representing South Africa and making history in Antwerp alongside your teammates Caleigh Anders, Naveen Daries, Shante Koti and Garcelle Napier?
In my entire career as a professional artistic gymnast I had never attended a World Championships alongside my South African team. We had only ever managed to qualify individuals. So getting the opportunity to attend the Championships as the top team in Africa and then going on to finish a historic 19th place was everything we could’ve asked for. As a team, we prepared extremely hard for this event, and not only managed to hit 16/16 clean routines, I also managed to once again qualify directly to the Olympic Games in Paris.
How did you feel being part of Team South Africa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and winning Bronze on the Uneven Bars?
The 2022 Commonwealth Games was my first ever Commonwealth Games that I ever attended after recovering from surgery through the 2018 Commonwealth Games. I knew the potential I had to medal if I hit one of my best routines. We worked tirelessly throughout that year with that specific goal in mind – coming home with a podium finish. I qualified into the bars final in 5th place, with pretty close margins. After an extremely tight and tough bars final, I managed to walk away with a Bronze medal finish. It was such a special moment getting to stand up on that podium as one of the best bar workers in the Commonwealth and will always be one of my most treasured career highlights.
Can you tell us about some of your further stand-out highlights from your artistic gymnastics career so far, which have included becoming 4x senior African champion and a multi-medallist at the 2016 Junior Commonwealth Championships?
I have had some many extraordinary career highlights thus far, most of which will always hold a special place in my heart. From winning my first Gold World Cup medal at the 2019 Hungary Challenge World Cup, qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games at the 2019 Stuttgart World Championships, then attending those Games in 2021 and having a personal best performance at my Olympic debut. African champion in 2022, 2x World Cup Gold medalist at the Cairo World Cup, as well as Bronze Commonwealth medalist. Furthermore going on to qualify for my second Olympic Games in 2023, and attending those games this year.
How did you get into artistic gymnastics and was it something you always wanted to do at elite level?
I started artistic gymnastics at the age of six years old, when my parents were looking for something to keep me busy and burn my energy in a more productive and conducive way. I fell in love with the thrill of learning all the new and cool tricks and loved the feeling of finally achieving something that we had been working on. By eight/nine years old I fell in love with the sport and knew I wanted to go as far as I possibly could go and try my best to reach every level of my potential throughout that journey.
What does a typical training day look like for you at Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre, and how much does your training change in the lead-up to a major competition?
I train six days day a week, for about five hours a day. Most days are single sessions while some are double. In-between all the training, I have things like my personal training, pilates, biokinetics, physiotherapy as well as sports massage to also factor in. While being a full-time professional athlete, I have also been a full-time university student, attending classes in-between. My days are pretty full as I often have class for the first half of the day, followed by about five hours of training after. I then go home to get more schoolwork done and juggle all my other recovery and additional activities in-between where there is time. Leading up to major competitions, my hours regularly don’t change but we focus a lot more on the quality repetitions we do.
Do you have any favourite gymnasts to watch, and were there any that inspired you when growing up?
Yes, I love to watch Rebeca Andrade, Sunisa Lee, Nina Derwael as well as Kaylia Nemour. They are all phenomenal gymnasts and bar workers as well. Growing up, I loved Aly Raisman – her gymnastics was always such a treat and I always thought she seemed like such a good leader and sportswoman.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I am always so exhausted from training and my busy days so in my free time I often like to spend time doing restful things. Whether it’s watching a series on the couch, spending some quality time with family or trying new restaurants with my friends.
Do you have any competitions coming up that you can tell us about or that you are targeting?
As of right now, I am currently on a post Olympic break focusing on completing my final year at university as well as fixing and healing all of my injuries. My main priority now is getting back to peak health as well as getting through my studies. After that, I will decide what is next for Caitlin Rooskrantz. 😀
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