It was a bittersweet experience for Jamaica’s Junior Elite team, as the country made a historical appearance at the Artistic Gymnastics Junior Pan American (PanAm) Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday.

Despite basking in the privilege of being Jamaica’s first national Junior Elite team, the two-member unit of Nazstazia Simone Henry and Elizabeth Streete revealed that there was a tinge of disappointment.

This as Streete was unable to compete due to a hamstring injury, which left Henry as the country’s lone representative, and that, along with other events, may have negatively affected her mindset.

The 12-year-old Henry was overcome with emotion as pre-competition jitters took their toll, but after regaining her composure, she pulled together a remarkable routine which won her the admiration of the judges.

Henry, who was the youngest competitor at the meet, finished 36th from the over 45 competitors from various countries after scoring 7.1 on the uneven bars, 12.4 on vault, 11.55 on the beam and closed with a 10.3 on the floor.

United States of America, Canada and host nation Argentina secured the top three podium spots.

Though failing to secure qualification for the Youth Olympics, Henry so impressed those in attendance that she was invited to a meet in Italy later this year.

“To be very honest it was about 13 degrees Celsius and I was very nervous and there was some waiting for my first event so I got extremely cold. But the fact still remains I just didn’t do as well as I know I could have and didn’t do as well as I had done in practice many times before.

“But I was very confident on the beam; I wobbled somewhat, but I was still confident and steady and I did a nice clean routine that I am very proud of. I was very excited when I got to the floor routine and after my first flip, I was very elated that I stuck with the finish and from there I just breathed happily through the rest of it,” Henry said shortly after competition.

While lauding her teammate’s courage, Streete, 15, pointed out that the approach for her will now be to recover ahead of future competitions.

“I was unable to compete due to a hamstring injury that has been bothering me for a little bit now and so I was disappointed that I couldn’t compete and show what I am capable of.

“But I am happy that my teammate was able to compete and do well and I am sure she made everyone proud. I hope that the next time we have a competition I will be fully recovered where I will be able to do my best as she did,” Streete shared.

Meanwhile, President of the National Gymnastics Federation (NGF) Nicole Grant-Brown was left beaming with pride despite the outcome.

“Nazstazia did very well to the astonishment of the judges after her beam routine because she did bars first and messed up so badly because of the nerves. She was literally shaking and it was extremely cold and they had her waiting long due to a mishap.

“But she did extremely well on the other apparatus and we are super proud of her,” a delighted Grant-Brown declared.

“Before competition she got up in the morning crying because of nerves and Elizabeth got injured so it was going to be lonely out there for her but she went out there and pulled through with God’s blessings and put on a show for Jamaica. So I just want to thanks to everyone for all the support and good wishes,” she added.

The Jamaica Olympic Association as well as the Sports Development Foundation and the parents were sponsors of the Junior Elite team.