The Most Famous
GYMNASTS from South Africa
This page contains a list of the greatest South African Gymnasts. The pantheon dataset contains 370 Gymnasts, 1 of which were born in South Africa. This makes South Africa the birth place of the 43rd most number of Gymnasts behind Cuba, and Turkey.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary South African Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous South African Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Beth Tweddle (b. 1985)
With an HPI of 17.89, Beth Tweddle is the most famous South African Gymnast. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.
Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired English artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games. Tweddle, known for her consistency and longevity as an elite gymnast, is regarded as a pioneer of the renaissance of British gymnastics at the beginning of the twenty-first century that saw the country's gymnastics programme progress from 'also ran' to consistent global competitiveness, and along with peers such as Vanessa Ferrari of Italy and Isabelle Severino of France, helped begin a period of significant success for western European gymnasts globally. Tweddle represented Great Britain at three Olympic Games. She is the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist on uneven bars, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion on the uneven bars, the 2009 World Champion on floor exercise, a four-time European Champion on the uneven bars, and a two-time European Champion on the floor exercise. She is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and a three-time champion in the Universiade. Tweddle retired in August 2013. Following retirement, Tweddle took on a variety of media and sporting work. On 10 March 2013, she won the eighth series of Dancing on Ice along with Daniel Whiston, who won the show for the third time. In 2014, she took part in the ninth and (at the time) last series of Dancing on Ice, the "All-Stars" series, with her new skating partner Łukasz Różycki, making the final and coming third. In 2016, Tweddle participated in the third series of Channel 4 reality contest show The Jump. However, on 7 February, two weeks into the show, Tweddle suffered a back injury and withdrew. It was reported on 8 February 2016 that she had undergone successful surgery to fuse two vertebrae. As of 2023, she remains a regular analyst on her sport for the BBC and Eurosport.
2. Naveen Daries (b. 2001)
With an HPI of 0.00, Naveen Daries is the 2nd most famous South African Gymnast. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Naveen Natascha Daries (born 29 October 2001) is a South African artistic gymnast who represented her country at the 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Championships, as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She took the bronze medal in the all-around at the 2021 African Championships, earning a continental berth to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
3. Caitlin Rooskrantz (b. 2001)
With an HPI of 0.00, Caitlin Rooskrantz is the 3rd most famous South African Gymnast. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Caitlin Aileen Rooskrantz (born 5 November 2001) is a South African artistic gymnast. She represented South Africa at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first South African gymnast to qualify for the Olympics without a continental quota. Rooskrantz and teammate Naveen Daries became the first female gymnasts of color to represent South Africa and the Olympics. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games uneven bars bronze medalist, South Africa's first gymnastics medal at the Commonwealth Games since 2010. She is the 2022 African all-around champion and a two-time African uneven bars champion (2018, 2022). She is a two-time uneven bars gold medalist on the FIG World Cup series. She represented South Africa at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she was the flag bearer of her country along with the male sprinter Akani Simbine.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as South African gymnasts born between 1985 and 2001. Of these 3, 3 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living South African gymnasts include Beth Tweddle, Naveen Daries, and Caitlin Rooskrantz. As of April 2024, 2 new South African gymnasts have been added to Pantheon including Naveen Daries, and Caitlin Rooskrantz.
Living South African Gymnasts
Go to all Rankings
Beth Tweddle
1985 - Present
HPI: 17.89
Naveen Daries
2001 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Caitlin Rooskrantz
2001 - Present
HPI: 0.00
