With a name like Fotini Panselinos one could be mistaken for a competitor at the ancient Olympic Games however this young woman will compete at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in rhythmic gymnastics in Singapore this August.

Panselinos is a 15-year-old school girl from Sydney’s south, who was first introduced to the sport of rhythmic gymnastics in 2001 when she came to the attention of her coach at her school Methodist Ladies College.

“I was talent scouted by my coach Mrs Delia Halmu, who (back then) came out to my school and chose girls depending on their ability to do certain movements like, splits, flexibilities, leaps,” she said.

“I was one of about six girls chosen from my school and asked to go to a second selection process at Sydney Olympic Park. I asked my mum to take me and the rest is history....!!!”

At 150cm tall and just over 40kg, the pint sized Panselinos is ecstatic to wear the green and gold at the Youth Games and can’t wait to meet athletes from different countries.

“It is such a great opportunity,” she said. “I am so thrilled to represent Australia, especially in a sport that I love doing and I have been doing it all my life.

“It will be terrific to meet young athletes from around the world who have qualified for their countries and are doing what they love, to the best of their ability, just like I hope to do.

Panselinos sees the Youth Games as an important stepping stone for her sporting career.

“For me the ultimate goal is to go the Olympic Games in 2012. This has always been my number one dream and the Youth Games will provide me with invaluable experience,” she said.

Panselinos loves her sport for its grace and ability.

“Rhythmic gymnastics is a really elegant sport. You need flexibility, really good hand eye co-ordination as well as the ability to manipulate your body with the apparatus,” she said.

The young athlete trains up to 30 hours, six days per week, which will increase as the Youth Games draw nearer. Training is broken up into preparation and routine practice.

“We start off with a variety of skipping styles, forward, backwards, doubles, in lots of 25,” she said.

“Then we begin to do our body work which consists of stretching exercises, leaps, rolls, balances, jumps, and these can be done with or without apparatus.

“When all our preparation in completed, we move onto practicing our routines and for me this includes four individual routines - rope, hoop, ball, & clubs and two group routines - hoop & ribbon.”

The fifteen-year-old does not know what spare time is. She is weary at the end of training and goes home to complete her homework before falling into bed.

“At the end of my training day I'm pretty much exhausted. I finish at about 8pm of a weekday, then I have a 30 minute drive home, I eat a light dinner, get showered and then sit down for some homework.”

Panselinos is not stay weary for long and uses inner motivation to maintain her drive and determination.

“You have to LOVE IT & WANT TO DO IT because without that drive, the sacrifices, the pain (sometimes) and trying to sustain the training regime is near impossible.

She is a petite young woman with huge values.

“From a world class elite sportsperson to a recreational sportsperson, what is important to me is that you work hard (which I must say I don't always do) give it your best go, and if you stay true to that, you'll be happy whatever the result.”

Frances Cordaro
AOC