The True Gold Otago team won the Masters Games' inaugural rhythmic gymnastics competition at the Caledonian Gymnasium, but it was not without some drama for the team.
The True Gold team of Luciana Blaga, Vicky Begg, Kate Greeve and Sonya Hooper scored 39.6 points to edge out Jackson 4 (Canterbury) which scored 37.85 points.
The team was forced to call in a late replacement when Pip Hannah badly sprained her right ankle in a training session three days before the competition.
The ankle swelled up and she was in a lot of pain.
There was no way she could compete.
The SOS went out to members of the local club for a substitute.
Former New Zealand representative Sonya Hooper was an able replacement and joined her mother, Vicky Begg, in the team.
The True Gold team also won the individual titles with Geeve winning the 20 to 29 age-group with 34.5 points, Blaga the 30 to 39 contest with 32.25 points and Begg the 40 to 49 grade with 14.075 points.
It was the first competition for Blaga (39), a former Romanian international, for 25 years.
She won a gold and silver medal in the Romanian open championships before emigrating to New Zealand eight years ago.
Her best international performance was to win a bronze medal in the ribbon at the Polish International.
