Kirsty Durward

Kirsty Elizabeth Gerlach (née Durward; 1958 or 1959 – 13 September 2020) was a New Zealand gymnast. She won a bronze medal representing her country in the women's all-around team event at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

Kirsty Gerlach
Personal information
Birth nameKirsty Elizabeth Durward
Born1958 or 1959
Te Puke, New Zealand
Died (aged 61)
Rotorua, New Zealand
Spouse(s)
Steve Gerlach
​
(m. 1981)​
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportGymnastics
University teamLong Beach State 49ers
Coached bySteve Gerlach
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Women's gymnastics
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 1978 EdmontonTeam all-around

Biography

Gerlach was born Kirsty Elizabeth Durward in Te Puke in about 1959, one of six children of Lois and Peter Durward.[1][2] She was educated at Rotorua Girls' High School, becoming a national gymnastics champion, and won a full scholarship to California State University, Long Beach when she was 17 years old.[1]

Durward was recruited to Long Beach State by coach Marion Duncan, but Duncan had departed by the time that Durward arrived.[1][3] From 1977 to 1980, Durward won four consecutive silver medals in vault at the AIAW National Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Championships.[3] She was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.[3]

Durward represented New Zealand at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, placing tenth in the women's individual all-around competition, and winning the bronze medal—alongside Lynette Brake, Rowena Davis and Deborah Hurst—in the women's team all-around.[4][5]

In 1981, Durward married her Long Beach State gymnastics coach, Steve Gerlach.[3] The couple went on to have four children, and lived between New Zealand and the United States. Initially, Steve Gerlach continued coaching in New Zealand and overseas, and Kirsty Gerlach established an audiology practice in Rotorua. They settled permanently at Lake Ōkareka, near Rotorua, in 2002.[1]

Kirsty Gerlach was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2017, and shortly after had to retire from her 33-year career as an audiologist.[1][6] A 25-minute documentary film, called Kirsty, about Gerlach's illness, was made by a fourth-year film student, Keziah Manabat, from the South Seas Film and TV School, in 2019, and was a finalist at the 2020 Watersprite Film Festival in Britain.[7][8][9]

Gerlach died from her illness on 13 September 2020.[1][2]

References
  1. Fleming, Caroline (16 September 2020). "'She made the world a better place to be in'". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. "Kirsty Gerlach obituary". New Zealand Herald. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. "Hall of fame: Kirsty Gerlach". Long Beach State University Athletics. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. Kirsty Durward at the New Zealand Olympic Committee
  5. "Gymnastics artistic team competition – women Edmonton 1978". Commonwealth Games Federation. 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. "Letters: A farewell from Kirsty Gerlach". Rotorua Daily Post. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. "Five more of our incredible nominees". Watersprite Film Festival. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. Fleming, Caroline (27 August 2019). "Documentary a personal legacy". Rotorua Daily Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  9. "Young kiwi filmmaker Keziah Manabat". RNZ. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
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