Huddersfield gymnast Olivia Procter has become a world champion!
The 15-year-old from Skelmanthorpe and her partner, Jessica Gledhill from Deepcar, were proud to strike gold at the ninth Acrobatic Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions in China.
The landed the Women’s Pair gold medals with a total of 27,900 points.
They were up against 29 other pairs from across the globe and, after securing joint first place with a pair from Russia in the first qualifying round, they went top in the next round and qualified first for the final.
“We were second to last on in the final and our coach, Beth Miller, just told us to do exactly the same routine and trust that it would give us the score we deserved,” explained Wakefield Gym Club member Olivia, who has been training up to 20 hours per week.
“We were up against some very tough competition and, while we were hoping to go well, we weren’t sure where we would come out – but we were very happy wit the routine and to win was just fantastic.
“We stood on the podium and they played the National Anthem and we were very proud and delighted with what we’d achieved.
“It’s really good to be able to call ourselves world champions because a lot of hard work has gone in, and now we just want to look forward and hopefully take it to the next level.”
Olivia thanked coached Miller and choreographer Alexandra Howden, who was unable to travel. She said they enjoyed the whole trip to Putian City.
“It was really different to all the European countries we’ve been to,” explained Olivia.
“But it was really good and there was a very nice atmosphere.”
Having previously competed in Paris, it was their second participation in the Acrobatic Gymnastics Age Group World Championships.
They went there fresh from winning silver at the European Championships.
Olivia has been involved in gymnastics since the age of three and ‘Acro’ since she was 10.
