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Hard work pays off for young Taoyuan County gymnasts

Ten girls at the gymnastics team of Bade Elementary School (八德國小) in Taoyuan County have attracted a lot of attention recently after winning five titles at the national gymnastics championships this year.

Inspired by "the jumping boys," seven gymnasts aged six to nine featured in the 42nd Golden Horse Award winner for Best Documentary, Jump! Boys (翻滾吧！男孩), the 10 girls, aged seven to 12, are now called "the spinning girls" by schoolmates.

TRAINING

All the girls attend rigorous training every day.

Their desire to become gymnastics stars drives them to persevere with their demanding daily routine -- just like their coach, Kao Ching-hui (高敬惠), a former representative on the national team.

"The coach is very strict, and she yells at us. But she is really good at gymnastics," a girl said.

"She says that if we practice and are dedicated, we can become even better gymnasts than she was in the future," the girl added.

UNDERPRIVILEGED

Since most of the girls come from underprivileged households, their parents struggle to support them financially.

One girl said that she saves her pocket money of NT$10 per day with the goal of buying a pair of good dance shoes.

The gymnastics team is also experiencing financial difficulties, but the girls are continuing their training as usual.

The school team's cheap dance shoes are long since worn out and the girls' toes stick out of the shoes. Some fix their shoes with tape.

DETERMINED

The girls insist on completing each day's training session, despite the blisters on their feet.

One girl's mother burst into tears when she saw her daughter practicing.

"I did not know that my little girl could endure such pain," the mother said.

Kao said that the teams' uniforms were handed down from one generation to another to save money.

CHAMPION COACH

Kao, the 26-year-old instructor, is a three-time national all-around champion.

She says that local gymnasts' artistic performance and agility are weak compared with foreign gymnasts.

It is therefore necessary for the nation's gymnasts to push themselves to the limit to improve their skills.

Recently the hard work paid off for the Bade team when they took home five titles and 17 medals from the national gymnastics championships, which took place in Taoyuan County from March 16 to March 18.

A total of 175 gymnasts from all school levels competed in the annual event this year, including one group of foreign gymnasts from a Japanese senior high school.
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