Kirsty Elizabeth Gerlach (née Durward; – 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 The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Biography

Gerlach was born Kirsty Elizabeth Durward in

Te Puke Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well-known for the cultivation of Kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, whi ...

in about 1959, one of six children of Lois and Peter Durward. She was educated at

Rotorua Girls' High School Rotorua Girls' High School is a state school educating girls from Year 9 to Year 13, located in Rotorua, New Zealand. History Rotorua Girls' High School was formed in 1959 after Rotorua High School, founded in 1927, was divided into Rotorua ...

, becoming a national gymnastics champion, and won a full scholarship to

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

when she was 17 years old. Durward was recruited to Long Beach State by coach Marion Duncan, but Duncan had departed by the time that Durward arrived. From 1977 to 1980, Durward won four consecutive silver medals in vault at the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

National Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Championships. She was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997. Durward represented New Zealand at the

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, placing tenth in the women's individual all-around competition, and winning the bronze medal—alongside Lynette Brake,

Rowena Davis Rowena Geisreiter (née Davis; born ) is a former New Zealand gymnast. Davis represented her country at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, placing ninth in the women's individual all-around competition, and winning the bronze medal—alo ...

and

Deborah Hurst Deborah Linda Murphy (formerly Hurst, née Richards) is a former New Zealand gymnast. Competing as Deborah Hurst, she won a bronze medal representing her country—alongside Kirsty Durward, Rowena Davis and Lynette Brake—in the women's all-ar ...

—in the women's team all-around. In 1981, Durward married her Long Beach State gymnastics coach, Steve Gerlach. 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 Lake Ōkāreka (also spelled Okareka) is one of four small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The others are Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake), Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake), and ...

, near

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, in 2002. Kirsty Gerlach was diagnosed with

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

in 2017, and shortly after had to retire from her 33-year career as an audiologist. 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. Gerlach died from her illness on 13 September 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durward, Kirsty 1950s births Year of birth missing 2020 deaths People from Te Puke People educated at Rotorua Girls' High School New Zealand female artistic gymnasts Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Gymnasts at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Long Beach State Beach athletes Audiologists Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in New Zealand Sportspeople from the Bay of Plenty Region 20th-century New Zealand women 21st-century New Zealand women Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games