Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Having already experienced the sweet taste of victory on the international stage, three of Jamaica's most promising young gymnasts - Daniel Williams, Jiovannua Jackson and Jamin Melbourne Levy - have their sights set on eventually representing Jamaica at the Olympics.

The trio have already made history, as they were the first representatives to be sent from Jamaica to the Whitlow Invitational for men, which was staged in Orlando, Florida earlier this month. The boys were not content with just participating at the invitational as they captured several individual medals and also finished as the top overall team.

Their coach, Shin Nishida, is looking forward to the youngsters competing at the highest level in the next three years.

"They are in level eight, we have nine and 10 and the elite before we reach Olympics," Nishida shared. "Maybe the next two to three years they will be reaching level 10 and the elite then after that we are hoping to get them to World Championships and Olympics," he added.

Williams, who captured two individual gold medals, a silver and a bronze to finish as the overall top-scoring level-eight competitor from a field of 32, was discovered while attending New Day Primary and Junior High School.

"I was at my school and a Japanese guy came there looking for children to do gymnastics and he was showing us some of his moves and flexibility," Williams reflected. "I did some of the strength skills and he picked me," he added.

Major improvement

The 13-year-old, who also finished first in the 11-13 age group category with a total of 73.55 points, has identified one major improvement that is needed locally.

"We don't have the facilities like the ones they have in the United States, we need some in Jamaica and we need some sponsors," Williams expressed.

Jackson, who finished runner-up in the 11-13 age group by only 0.10 points, having accumulated 73.45 points in capturing his three individual gold medals, two silver and one bronze, also attended New Day All-Age and Junior High. He was, however, discovered while playing in his community.

"I was flicking somewhere and one of my friends brought the coach to me and he asked me if I wanted to join it and I said 'yes' and I joined it the following day," Jackson shared.

Future hopes

The St Joseph's High School student is now looking forward to reaching the elite level and then the Olympics.

"I want to go up to the elite level with the big men, so I can do a lot of stuff," Jackson expressed. "I want to go up to the Olympics and when I go there I want to win," he added.

Levy, a 14-year-old St George's College student, took second overall in the 14-15 age group from a field of 11 competitors, having garnered a total of 71.4 points in winning four individual gold medals and one silver. He actually started out in another sport but was eventually drawn to gymnastics.

"I started with another sport ... then I saw all the cool things the gymnastics kids were doing, all these flips and I just wanted to go and try it, so I switched to gymnastics," he further explained.