It runs in the family for another set of twins

The Team South Africa squad for the 2026 Youth Olympics features two sets of identical twins. The first pair to compete were the Marule brothers in the rugby sevens. Now it’s the turn of the gymnasts, Gethin (left in picture) and Frederik Davies-Vaneetvelde, who started their Games on Saturday.

After completing their subdivision qualification, they both spoke about the experience of competing in Dakar and the journey they have shared throughout their lives.

Gethin began talking about the experience of the competition. “This has been a great experience. We are hoping to have qualified for two or three finals but if not, then that is okay. We put our all into today and we are proud of our performance.”

The twin brothers, who are near impossible to tell apart beside a slight difference in hairstyle and Frederik having an inch in height over his brother, started the gymnastic journey in Johannesburg, before moving to Ireland five years ago. They currently live in Dublin where they continue to train and compete for South Africa.

The likeness attracted much attention from journalists, which Gethin said: “It is always a good conversation starter!” Frederik went on to speak about the close bond they share, “It is always nice to compete together. We understand each other like no one else can, and we are always there to support each other as brothers and as friends.”

The 17-year-old brothers were asked if they are competitive with one another, to which Gethin adamantly replied: “We do not compete with each other. We love being on the same team and if he outscores me, it makes me happy and vice versa. The most important thing for us is that we help the team as best we can and represent Team South Africa as well as possible.”

The young gymnasts are currently watching the second subdivision for qualifiers as they, along with their teammate Pfumelo Shibambu, eagerly await the results to see which finals they manage to qualify for. Tomorrow, they will be supporting the girls team in their qualifiers as the girls did for them today.