SPORTING twins Laura and Sarah Gomersall from South Zeal are edging closer to their dream of Olympic stardom — they are back from Athens with a team silver medal in their first international triathlon event.
The 15-year-old girls, whose aim is to follow in the footsteps of Olympic modern pentathlon bronze medallist Kate Allenby from Tavistock, put in fantastic performances for the British Triathlon Squad at the International Hellenic Youth Games.
Unfortunately, the Russians, who excelled in both the boys' and the girls' events, prevented the team from winning gold, but Laura and Sarah are delighted with their silver medal and their individual placings of fifth and seventh overall.
It seems the twins can do no wrong, achieving outstanding results in every competition they entered in 2001. Members of Mid Devon Pony Club, the competitors turned to the triathlon event when foot and mouth restrictions forced pony club contests to be cancelled.
Maggie Gomersall said her daughters were very focussed and had the commitment and drive to realise their ambition of representing their country at modern pentathlon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking.
'At the moment they are on cloud nine,' she said. 'It is very exciting for them because they have had such a brilliant year.
'Now they have to start all over again and this year they have GCSEs to get through as well, but they are very determined.'
Laura, who also represented Great Britain in the European Championships in Spain in August, said the whole experience of taking part in an international event was thrilling, especially as much of it was in the stadium which will host the Olympics in 2004.
'We were shooting in the mountains, and the 50-metre outdoor pool, which will be used for the Games in 2004, was fantastic. I really felt like I was taking part in the Olympics and it is my dream to be doing just that in 2008,' she said.
'I was really pleased with my swimming and running but think I could have done better in the shooting. When you are competing for your country you realise what is at stake and it does make you quite nervous.'
The girls train hard every day to better their times and are hoping to make great strides in fencing this year, which is part of the modern pentathlon. They also have their own horses and ride every day.
Mrs Gomersall said although it may look as if her daughters had come from nowhere this year, they had been competing in pony club events for years and had a terrific grounding from that. Kate Allenby also started her sporting career from pony club.
Laura and Sarah are hoping to get into Bath University where the performance squad is based but Mrs Gomersall said that like so many things, the girls' success would depend on funding.
'At the moment, they can carry on using the local facilities in Okehampton and they have had so much support here from local clubs and organisations which we are so grateful for,' she said.
'But as the girls progress they need access to more facilities and more funding so the financial implications are a continuous worry, although it looks as though there is to be more lottery funding for athletics which is good.'
If anyone can assist the twins with sponsorship, they can call the Gomersalls on 01837 840633.