“Struggle is the most exciting part of the sport,” Saskia said, an ardent reader of dystopian novels, sounding as if she’d channelled the spirit of the Russian author, Leonard Tolstoy, whose work includes War and Peace.

“In the moment, the struggle seems awful, and that everything is too hard. But you get past that and learn success only comes from struggle. It’s after it has paid off that you recognise struggle is important.”

Saskia, 20, has needed to overcome significant setbacks to star in a sport which is an expression of beauty, but bound by the tight strings of discipline and flawlessness. It is also one which demands its participants to master acrobatics and skills with a hoop, ball, rope, clubs and a ribbon.

For four years, she wore a back brace for 20 hours a day after being diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. Rather than the rigors of rhythmic gymnastics being a problem for someone with Saskia's condition, doctors described it as a ‘positive’. 

“It was good because I was strong, and the muscles surrounding my spine were strong,” she said. “The flexibility required in gymnastics wasn’t helped by having a curved spine, but they didn’t discourage me from doing it.”

Saskia’s view that the struggle can be a blessing was also shaped by a devastating knee injury in 2019 which happened on the morning she was expected to trial for Australia’s world junior championships team.

“I needed three months out,” she said. “I had great support around me, I trained harder than ever, and came back a lot stronger.”

However, in the spirit of Tolstoy, Saskia found that misery served the greater good.

“I focused on my rehab, won nationals, and went to junior world championships.”

Leading into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Saskia found balancing her Bachelor of Law (Honours) studies, an intense training schedule, and working as a law clerk for a Brisbane-based legal firm was another struggle.

While the physical demands of a rhythmic gymnast’s lot are obvious – it requires a discipline few possess – Saskia conceded the mind is the biggest battlefield, and its battles must be conquered.

“Rhythmic gymnastics requires every single muscle to be active at all times,” she said. “You become so in tune, from the tip of your toes to the top of your head, because everything needs to be perfectly aligned.

“But the mental side is the most important thing. My team and I’ve been working with a sports psychologist since the end of last year.

“It’s been tremendous learning how to control performance anxiety and dealing with the nerves; a huge game-changer. Before we started with the sports psychologist we’d had a lot of losses.

“We lost nationals last year; didn’t make world championships. We actually failed in our first Olympic trial, but those results came down to us not being mentally strong enough, and not knowing how to perform under so much pressure and stress.

“We’ve learnt about staying calm and believing in ourselves; the importance of positive self-talk. We have a few psychological exercises, including visualising every night, so we feel as if we’ve competed a thousand times before we actually step out.”

For all the hardships, the mental rehearsals, the pain, the hours of practice and the sacrifice, Saskia says there’s also the opportunity to experience breathless elation.

“Nailing a routine at a competition is the most rewarding part of my sport,” she enthused. “You’ve trained for thousands of hours, endured the difficulties, and then, in that moment, you celebrate that it has all paid off.”

Daniel Lane