By Abeya Al-Bakry In a tournament organised by the Dubai Olympic Gymnastics Club (DOGC), Pakinam Khaled El-Sayed, an Egyptian by birth and an expatriate living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, won two gold medals in the floor and vault hosted by the sixth Gulf Inter-Club Floor & Vault competition, Abeya Al-Bakry reports. "First I thought they were mistaken like, they got the name wrong or something, because I couldn't believe I would get gold, and then they repeated my name," Pakinam, who has just turned 12, said. "They said my full name, and I was really amazed." The competition, in which four other clubs from around the region were participating, including Qatar and Ras Al-Khaimah, was organised by the DOGC as part of an effort to promote gymnastics in the Gulf region. The club is a junior Olympic gymnastics school for young gymnasts based on gymnastics in the US, according to their website. Dean Johnstone, a UK national level gymnast, established the club to cater to the UAE expatriate community. The UAE does not have a national gymnastics team, however, members of the expatriate community expressed their interest in training their children in the sport. Gymnastics is one of the oldest games in world history, having started with the ancient Greeks. They took firm hold in physical exercises training athletes in flexibility, balance and poise, assisting players to build muscle strength, firmness and tension. To build on this, gymnasts have to maintain rigorous training, a strict dietary regimen and focus to acquire the skills to perform the exercises. Such rigour is expected of all gymnasts, but parents are increasingly directing their children to these exercises in order to build their children's physical strength and aspiring for their children success in gymnastics. "Until last year, it was my job to watch her diet, but now she watches her diet herself," Samar Mamdouh Kamel, Pakinam's mother, said. "Pakinam eats fruits and nuts, and beef gherkins, which she likes, and sometimes she also takes an energy drink or a banana." Of her mother, Pakinam says she makes "delicious cakes" so she has to keep struggling with herself to maintain her diet, but it becomes easier when she finds that she has to deal with the situation with her siblings, who have the same trouble! Pakinam is a normal adolescent and has to struggle with the idea of wanting to be with her friends while keeping up with her school work. She attends her gymnastic training almost daily, but sometimes she gives up her Thursdays to spend with her friends in the mall, or to finish her school work. She admits she prefers her training to school work, but that she always tries to keep her grades at an at least average level. Pakinam's mother says that as a person, this young athlete is determined and active, so being in gymnastics which keeps her busy is a good thing for her. But for the young athlete, maintaining her exercise nearly fell through when she found last year she did not reach the desired level. She was downgraded to level four and that got her. She was devastated at the time, but then she realised that she was not working to her full potential. It was not that she had to give up her friends or cut down on her social life to reach the desired level; she needed to increase her stamina so she worked harder on herself. As mates on the team, Pakinam and her friends give each other marks on their performance with each girl telling the other what went wrong and what they need to do to improve. With a spirit of camaraderie she explains that it was her friends on the team who wished her to improve and helped her. The coaches of course help with that, pointing critically, and providing support and exercise to raise her standard. The coaches at DOGC are national level gymnasts from countries including Romania, Egypt, Russia, the UK, Syria and Ecuador. Daveed Romero, their coach, says the programme starts as recreation for the girls, but after that it becomes competitive as they move from one level to the other. It motivates children to take a risk. At the moment they are training to move to another level in a US gymnastics programme.
