GYMNASTIC CARIFTA PREVIEW

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Trinidad and Tobago's Gymnasts are getting mentally prepared for their CARIFTA Championships challenge early next month. The team has been hard at training just weeks away from the competition. They are hoping to recapture the title by dominating the tournament.

Transcript

00:0052 athletes participated at the last Krifta Artistic Gymnastics Championships competition.

00:08And at this time TNT will be represented by over 60.

00:12Well again this year, the countries are not sitting back.

00:16Last year we had a really, really good haul. We did really, really well.

00:20We scored about 80 goals, 57 silver, 53 bonds, something like that, closer like that.

00:25But really we dominated performances.

00:28And so the other countries know that Trinidad and Tobago is a force to be reckoned with for this year.

00:34What will the athletes be focusing on for the next two to three weeks?

00:38Hitting clean routines, being the best that they can be.

00:42Team spirit, representing the weird white and black.

00:46Getting the athletes in proper mental shape is also a priority.

00:49Dion Lafoucard is charged with the opportunity to get their heads in the game.

00:54He says they're not going to do well if they're too emotional.

00:57I would say no, not one session.

00:59Some of these kids need to be doing, psychologically, doing sessions over and over.

01:04Because to me, 98% of any sport is mental.

01:07And of course we spend a lot of time on the technical, the physical.

01:10But we need to spend a lot of time on the mental because that's what it's about on game day so to speak.

01:15You know, what are you going to do? How are you going to perform? This is your time to shine.

01:18What about overconfidence? Does it need to be managed?

01:22You want to be careful because if you're going to get overconfident, then there are other athletes who are doing quite well.

01:27And to me it's about, okay, if you've won, can you be consistent? Right? Can you be consistent? Can you persevere?

01:33He indicated that he will be following up with the athletes after the Karifta Championships.

01:39However, it's not just mental training that the athletes are embracing.

01:43They're also getting familiar with the media.

01:45Like level 7 gymnast Eliana Rosancho, she's hoping to do floor and vault.

01:50What events are you hoping to take part in for Karifta?

01:53I hope to take part in floor and vault.

01:57What are your hopes for today's session?

01:59I hope to learn more about myself and learn how to regulate in competition.

02:06How important do you think is mental training ahead of a competition like Karifta?

02:11It's really important because if your mental state is bad, then you're not going to be able to do as good as you want.

02:17Asia Ali, a level 6 athlete, will be focusing on all apparatuses.

02:22Last year I got all gold and for this year I'm hoping to get all tens on all apparatuses.

02:30So how would you describe training so far?

02:32I would describe training very good because all of my coaches have been training me well and I keep getting better and better.

02:38The Karifta Artistic Gymnastics Championships is set to take place at the National Velodrome in Coover on the 6th and 7th of December.

02:47Sergio Dufour, TP6 Sport.

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