Gymnast Nina Derwael takes gold in Tokyo
The Belgian gymnast Nina Derwael has taken gold in the uneven bars final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The 21-year-old from Limburg Province scored 15.200 points in the final, leaving her well ahead of the Russian Anastasiia Iliankova (14.833 points). The American gymnast Sunisa Lee came in third with 14,500 points.
Nina Derwael’s gold medal is the first gold to be won by a Belgian athlete at this year’s Olympic Games. It is Team Belgium’s third medal so far. Previously the cyclist Wout Van Aert took silver and the judoka Mattias Casse bronze.
Nina Derwael’s victory was nothing short of historic as it made her become the first Belgian women to win an Olympic gymnastics gold medal for our country.
“I feel like I’m dreaming”.
In an initial reaction to her historic victory Nina Derwael told VRT Sport that “I feel like I’m dreaming”.
Despite the stress and pressure that competing at the Olympics entails Nina Derwael said that she had tried to keep a level head.
“I tried to stick to my routine and I am happy that it worked”.
“I knew it had to happen today and I’m happy I succeeded”.
She went onto thank the training staff, her family and those that had offered her help and support over the years.
Her Olympic gold medal is the culmination of years of hard work and her victory will be remembered for many years to come.
