Main:Naveen Daries

Naveen Daries
Daries at the 2024 Cottbus World Cup
Full name	Naveen Natascha Daries
Country represented	South Africa
Born	October 29 2001 (2001-10-29) Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Years on National Team	2015-present
Club	Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre
Coach(es)	Ilse Roets-Pelser
Current status	Active

Naveen Natascha Daries (born October 29 in Pretoria, Gauteng) is an elite South African gymnast and 2020 Olympian. She is a three-time South African National Champion, once as a junior and twice as a senior. She has been a member of the National Team since 2015, and has represented South Africa at three World Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Her younger sister, Zelme, is also a gymnast. She trains at Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre under Ilse Roets-Pelser.

Career

Junior Career

2015-2016

Daries competed at the South African Championships, winning all-around and vault gold, and uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise bronze. In the fall, she made her international debut at the Top Gym meet in Belgium, placing ninth on floor, eleventh on vault, twelfth on bars, and fourteenth in the all-around and on balance beam.

Daries started her season at the Austrian Team Open in late winter, placing twentieth in the all-around. At the South African Championships, winning balance beam gold, all-around, vault, and uneven bars silver, and floor exercise bronze. She went on to compete at the Junior Commonwealth Championships, winning team silver, and placing fourth in the all-around, vault, balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise.

Senior Career

2017

Daries made her senior debut at the Koper World Cup in Slovenia, but didn't make the event finals. She fared better at the Szombathely World Cup in Hungary, where she placed seventh on vault and floor exercise. At the South African Championships, she won all-around vault, and floor exercise gold, and uneven bars and balance beam silver. Her performance got her named to the South African team for the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, but Daries didn't qualify to the all-around or event finals.

2018

Daries competed at the Baku World Cup in Azerbaijan, placing seventh on vault and fourth on uneven bars. She was named to the South African team for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. She qualified for the all-around, but unfortunately sustained a hamstring injury and had to withdraw. She recovered in time for the South African Championships, where she won floor exercise gold, all-around and uneven bars silver, and balance beam bronze. She returned to the World Championships, but again didn't make the all-around or event finals.

2019

Daries reclaimed her all-around title at the South African Championships, and picked up additional gold medals on beam and floor, as well as silver on vault and bars. After placing fourth on floor exercise at the Szombathely World Cup, she competed at the World Championships, but did not make the all-around or event finals.

2020-2021

Daries didn't compete in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was finally able to compete at the African Championships in Cairo, Egypt in May, where she won bronze in the all-around and qualified as an individual to the Tokyo Olympics. She also placed fourth on vault and bars, fifth on beam, and sixth on floor. In early June, she returned to Cairo for the World Cup, qualifying to every single event, and placing fourth on beam, fifth on floor, sixth on vault, and seventh on bars.

Tokyo Olympics

Daries competed in the second subdivision, starting on uneven bars. She placed seventy-sixth in the all-around, and did not advance to the individual events.

2022

Daries began her season at the Cairo World Cup in March, placing fourth on uneven bars, fifth on balance beam, and eighth on floor exercise. She returned to Cairo in July for the African Championships, helping South Africa to a team silver medal, which also qualified a full team to the World Championships. Individually, Daries won vault and uneven bars bronze, and placed fourth in the all-around and fifth on floor exercise. In August, she competed at the Commonwealth Games, placed fourth with her team, sixth in the all-around, and seventh on vault and floor. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Liverpool, but didn't qualify to any individual finals.

2023

Daries competed at the African Championships in Johannesburg in May, winning team gold, uneven bars bronze, and placing fourth in the all-around. That fall, she competed at the Szombathely World Cup in Hungary, placing sixth on uneven bars. She also competed at the Paris World Cup, but didn't make the event finals. At the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, she placed seventy-ninth in qualifications and did not advance to the all-around or qualify to the Olympics.

2024

Daries began her season at the Cairo World Cup in Egypt and the Cottbus World Cup in Germany, both held in February, but she didn't make the event finals either time. At the African Championships in Morocco, she won team and balance beam silver, and placed fourth in the all-around and uneven bars, and fifth on floor exercise.

Medal Count

Year	Event	TF	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2015	South African Championships		1st	1st	3rd	3rd	3rd
	Top Gym		14	11	12	14	9
2016	Austrian Team Open		20
	South African Championships		2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	3rd
	Junior Commonwealth Championships	2nd	4	4		4	7
2017	Szombathely World Cup			7			7
	South African Championships		1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st
2018	Baku World Cup			7	4
	South African Championships		2nd		2nd	3rd	1st
2019	South African Championships		1st	2nd	2nd	1st	1st
	Szombathely World Cup						4
2021	African Championships		3rd	4	4	5	6
	Cairo World Cup			6	7	4	5
2022	Cairo World Cup				4	5	8
	Cairo African Championships	2nd	4	3rd	3rd		5
	Birmingham Commonwealth Games	4	6	7			7
2023	Johannesburg African Championships	1st	4		3rd
	Szombathely World Cup				6
2024	Marrakech African Championships	2nd	4		4	2nd	5

Floor Music

2017 - “Pirates of the Caribbean” by Mista