{"id":7883,"date":"2026-10-18T20:22:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T19:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/?p=7883"},"modified":"2026-10-18T20:22:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T19:22:40","slug":"cnga-special-achievements-at-the-zinc-and-copper-finals-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/uncategorized\/cnga-special-achievements-at-the-zinc-and-copper-finals-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"CNGA SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS AT THE ZINC AND COPPER FINALS 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This weekend marked an unforgettable milestone for five talented CNGA gymnasts as they stepped onto the competition floor at the Welsh Finals \u2014 delivering courage, excellence, and true team spirit. Their achievements shine brightly across Wales, and we are immensely proud to celebrate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>\u2728 Lily Griffiths \u2013 A Remarkable Debut at the Welsh Finals (Age 9, Zinc)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday, <strong>9\u2011year\u2011old Lily Griffiths<\/strong>, a newcomer to City of Newport Gymnastic Academy, made an extraordinary impact at her first Welsh Finals. Lily performed with confidence, elegance, and determination, securing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vault \u2013 5th place<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bars \u2013 4th place<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Beam \u2013 4th place<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Floor \u2013 5th place<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overall \u2013 3rd place in Wales<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>An incredible achievement for her first Finals appearance. Lily also contributed strongly to the <strong>9\u2011year team<\/strong>, helping them secure the <strong>Bronze medal<\/strong>. A superb performance and a well\u2011deserved podium finish.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"230\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/LILY-GRIFFITHS-ZINC-FINALS-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7887\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/LILY-GRIFFITHS-ZINC-FINALS-1.jpeg 230w, https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/LILY-GRIFFITHS-ZINC-FINALS-1-220x300.jpeg 220w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lily with her 3rd place trophy, medals and ribbons<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2><strong>\u2728 Evie Thorpe &amp; Georgina Salijeni \u2013 Strength and Team Spirit (Ages 12\u201313, Zinc)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Next to compete were <strong>Evie Thorpe<\/strong> and <strong>Georgina Salijeni<\/strong>, representing South East Wales in the 12\u201313 Zinc category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Evie Thorpe<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Evie delivered polished, composed routines and earned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bars \u2013 Bronze medal (3rd)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Beam \u2013 6th place<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A brilliant individual effort \u2014 well done, Evie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Georgina Salijeni<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Georgina performed beyond her personal best, showcasing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>A flowing, confident <strong>Bar routine<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A powerful <strong>half\u2011on Vault<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A beautifully choreographed <strong>Floor routine<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Although she did not place in the top six overall, Georgina\u2019s outstanding effort, combined with Evie\u2019s results, helped their team secure the <strong>Bronze medal<\/strong>. A fantastic team achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><strong>\u2728 Lydia Porter \u2013 Excellence and Gold for South East Wales (Age 14, Zinc)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 14\u2011year Zinc category, <strong>Lydia Porter<\/strong> delivered elegant, controlled routines across all apparatus. While she narrowly missed top\u2011six placements individually, her consistency and commitment contributed significantly to her team\u2019s success \u2014 helping South East Wales secure the <strong>Gold medal position<\/strong>. A superb contribution from Lydia.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GEORGINA-LYDIA-EVIE-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7888\" width=\"431\" height=\"215\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Left to Right: Georgina Salijeni, Lydia Porter, Evie Thorpe with their team medals and Evie with her individual apparatus ribbon and medal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2><strong>\u2728 Avalyn Halford \u2013 Medals Across the Board (Copper Champion)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On Sunday, it was the turn of <strong>Avalyn Halford<\/strong>, the current South East Copper Champion. Competing in a strong field in her first year of Copper Finals, Avalyn achieved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vault \u2013 Silver medal<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bars \u2013 Bronze medal<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overall \u2013 3rd place in Wales<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Avalyn also performed beautiful Beam and Floor routines, and her exceptional contribution helped her team secure the <strong>Gold medal position<\/strong>. A phenomenal achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/avalyn-halford-copper-finals-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7889\" width=\"270\" height=\"303\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Avalyn with her 3rd place trophy and individual apparatus medals<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This weekend marked an unforgettable milestone for five talented CNGA gymnasts as they stepped onto the competition floor at the Welsh Finals \u2014 delivering courage, excellence, and true team spirit. Their achievements shine brightly across Wales, and we are immensely proud to celebrate them. \u2728 Lily Griffiths \u2013 A Remarkable Debut at the Welsh Finals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7883"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7883\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}