Meet Ketevan Chkhaidze, the GZAAT freshman, who scored the top points in the international competition “New Look Cup”. In the competition, gymnasts from 8 countries competed in a rhythmic performance with a ball and hoop. Ketevan won first place in the Junior hoop performance and second place in the ball performance of the competition.
However, this was not Ketevan’s first win; she has won several other tournaments. Ketevan is a rhythmic gymnast at the Laguna, part of the group - Benita. Rhythmic gymnastics includes acrobatics, ballet, and dance in addition to gymnastics. Other than the ball and hoop, clubs and ribbons are also included in other rhythmic performances. The sport requires a lot of patience and muscle to become skilled in rhythmic gymnastics since the gymnasts need to be coordinated, strong, flexible, and swift.
Ketevan has been involved with the sport since she was 6 years old and, since then, she has progressed a lot. With a huge passion for gymnastics, she was able to surpass everybody else, with her first win at the age of 9 being the Tbilisi Championship. Ketevan has also won several medals at the Tbilisi and Georgia Championships.
Additionally to all her sporting achievements, Ketevan is an accomplished student, with the best student awards and good performance in every subject. To learn more about her rhythmic gymnastics journey and how the sport affects her life, I asked her a series of questions:
J: When did you first take an interest in rhythmic gymnastics?
Ketevan: My interest in rhythmic gymnastics came from my mother; when I was six years old, like every other kid, I had a lot of energy and wanted to engage in some type of sport, so my mother came up with the idea to enroll me in gymnastics, as it would be the perfect sport to put all my energy into.
J: What gave/gives you the strength and motivation to continue training in this challenging sport?
Ketevan: Over time I have built up a lot of love for this sport; additionally seeing all my little achievements and hard work pay off has been my biggest motivation to keep going and progress. Despite having bad days and not always the best performances at championships lessons, I do not let those days get to me and lose hope. Additionally, I have realized that there will always be someone who is better than me and will beat me at my own game, but thinking about these kinds of aspects will bring me no positive outcome and will instead, decrease motivation.
J: How do you manage your school work along with gymnastics?
I practice 6 days a week for 3-4 hours a day, so time management is very crucial for me. I always try to do everything on time and not postpone any homework or work that has to be done. Additionally, I also try to get enough sleep, which is challenging, as I finish my school work at midnight. For me, schoolwork is much more important than sport and it's very rare, but sometimes I have to skip gymnastics practice to have more time to finish the large amount of homework so I won't fall behind on my subjects.
As we can see, Ketevan is already an accomplished rhythmic gymnast. By doing what she loves, she has earned the prizes she deserves. But she has a whole career ahead of her to grow and we wish Ketevan Chkhaidze good luck with her passion!
Edited By: Elene Mansvetashvili
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