When the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships open in Jakarta on October 19, 2025, South Africa will have a milestone to celebrate. For the first time, a South African gymnast will line up to compete in a sixth World Championships. That athlete is Naveen Daries, a quiet force in South African gymnastics whose journey has been one of resilience, upward growth, and trail-blazing ambition.
A Journey of Firsts, Perseverance and Progress
Naveen’s path to Jakarta is built on years of steady ascent. She made her world debut as a 15-year-old in 2017 in Montreal. Since then, she has represented South Africa at every edition (2018 in Doha, 2019 in Stuttgart, 2022 in Liverpool, 2023 in Antwerp) and now in 2025, a landmark that cements her as one of the longest-serving elite gymnasts in her country’s history at World Championships.
Her competitive résumé spans national titles, African podiums, World Cup finals, and Olympic qualification. At the African Championships she has medaled in all-around and apparatus events; at the 2021 African Championships she earned bronze to claim a continental berth to the Tokyo Olympics.
Beyond results, Naveen is an inspiration to young gymnasts in South Africa, especially for those who see gymnastics as distant and inaccessible. She has often spoken about the importance of exposure: children in South Africa seldom see elite-level gymnastics except during the Olympics. Her presence at successive world events is itself a message: “It is possible.” (As she put it in an earlier interview with us.)
But the road has had its share of adversity. Naveen was born with a vision impairment in her right eye, a fact she has candidly addressed, especially in the context of release moves on uneven bars. Yet she has learned to make her routines instinctive, refining her spatial awareness and trusting in muscle memory. Over time, what once was a major handicap has become part of her competitive identity.
Paris as Prelude, Jakarta as Destination
In the lead-up to Jakarta, Naveen used the World Challenge Cup in Paris as a testbed. She viewed Paris not as a separate contest but as a stepping stone toward Worlds, both events part of the larger arc toward December trials (for African Championships and Commonwealth Games) and beyond.
“Paris is just more like a stepping stone for me. And so is Worlds, actually … the important trials is in December … both are stepping stones for that trial at the end of the year.”
She acknowledged the physical and mental challenge of back-to-back international competitions, shifting gears quickly from competition high to training reset, then launching again. But she leaned into her support system.
By the time she reached Paris, signs of progress were visible. Her vault performances (12.700 and 12.866, averaging 12.983) and her bars routine (11.633 in qualification) reflected incremental gains. The increased difficulty, especially on bars, demonstrated that she had not just preserved her skillset but continued to push boundaries.
Final Training, Final Reflections
We joined her last training session last week before departure to Indonesia, and asked about her mindset, her hopes, and what comes after Jakarta.
“I will be taking a week in Bali with my family, she shares excitedly. It will be active rest … then back in the gym, really work hard for trials. After that, we are literally training as a team because we will be focused on African Champs and Commonwealth Games … as a team, we will be working extremely hard.”
Asked about her first-ever trip to Indonesia and what success means beyond medals:
“I am very excited … what success looks like for me at World Championships is probably just to do what I do in training … I’ve been training really hard … for me, I just want to go out there and do what I train.”
We also asked about the friendships she has forged internationally, even among fierce rivals, and how those bonds support her:
“Sometimes you feel like you’re the only one struggling, but then you realize … there’s people that are high up, they also struggle … I have close friends from different countries … one helps me with dismounts, we chat often … she’s a vet … she’s a massive role model to me … She adds, laughing: I feel very old because I’m the only one that has done six world championships … I just thank God for allowing me to go on for so long … to keep going and to keep working hard.”
Her humility and self-reflection come through: she sees herself not as extraordinary, but as someone quietly determined, constantly evolving.
Individual Formats Only in Jakarta
Jakarta will not host a team event, the structure is entirely individual-based, reflecting the post-Olympic format shift. National federations now may bring up to 4 female gymnasts (with up to 3 per apparatus) under new FIG regulations. A total of 86 nations are registered.
Legacy and Beyond
In her sixth Worlds, Naveen will break a barrier, no South African woman has competed in that many. She carries the story of all those who look up to her, girls across the country, who now know that stepping onto a world stage is not just a dream but a tangible target.
Beyond Jakarta, she envisions Bali, rest and recovery, then refocusing on trials, then team events, African Championships and then Commonwealth Games. The discipline and interconnectedness of her career choices suggest she sees this not as an endpoint but as a landmark in a broader journey.
As she lounges in the Indonesia Arena, absorbing the atmosphere, settling into the rotations, confronting the scoreboard, what matters is this: she’s there because she earned it. She’s not just South Africa’s flagbearer; she is a touchstone for possibility.
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