‘The more you do it, the better it gets’

Tiny Stephanie Sandler, 16 years old with a body that floats like a feather, is the baby in the South African Olympic team.

On Thursday she performed her heart out in rhythmic gymnastics to finish 23rd in the hoops and ball disciplines and ended with a flurry of confidence that bodes well for when she competes in the baton and ribbon events on Friday.

”I was so nervous when I went out there that it felt like the floor was shuddering. I though to myself, ‘I’m walking on to the Olympic floor, I can’t believe this.’ My hands were shaking in the ball event. It was an awesome experience.”

Folks back home can be proud of the tiny gymnast, even though her combined score for the two events chalked up 37,075 points against the 53,300 by Russia’s Alina Kabaeva who leads the intermediate results of the individual all-around qualification after the first day.

”I’ve never performed before a crowd this big,” she said. ”Now that I’ve cracked through the first day, I’m really excited about tomorrow. The more you do it, the better it gets.” — Sapa