Lewisham gymnast determined to raise bar in Sydney (From News Shopper)

Lewisham gymnast determined to raise bar in Sydney

4:42pm Wednesday 9th January 2013 in Sport

By Ryan Walters

LEWISHAM gymnast Courtney Tulloch is confident an array of new routines can help him add another title to an already impressive résumé when he competes at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival later this month.

The 17-year-old enjoyed a successful year in 2012, helping Great Britain’s juniors win their third successive European team gold in Montpellier in May before claiming gold on the rings at the same championships.

And having witnessed Britain win their first Olympic gymnastics team medal for 100 years in person at London 2012, Tulloch insists he is gunning to repeat a similar feat with his own team Down Under in Sydney.

“I have had a really good year and been to a lot of really good competitions,” said Tulloch.

“Winning at the Europeans and watching the Olympics was amazing, so getting chosen to go to Australia is fantastic and hopefully I can get a few medals.

“I watched some of the qualifications of the men’s gymnastics in London and the atmosphere of the arena was amazing and they did so well against great opposition.

“I think the junior Europeans in France was the highlight of my year.

“We came first as a team and I got a gold medal on the rings which I was really happy with.

“I have got loads of new routines so I am looking forward to getting out there and putting them into practice in Australia and getting into the all-around final with the team as well as individual medals.”

Tulloch is one of the 120 British athletes selected to compete at the Festival, which starts on January 16, where he will tackle every individual discipline as well as the all-around and team events.

And he also sees it as an opportunity to prove himself on the world stage before soon making the step up to the seniors where he will target the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“Training is going very well and we are all ready to start 2013 with a good performance in Australia,” he added.

“Although I am competing in a lot of events myself the team comes first.

“We know each other really well and we bond really well so we want to pull together and make sure we do well collectively as we showed last year.”

The British Olympic Association prepares and leads British athletes at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. It works in partnership with sport national governing bodies to enhance Olympic success and is responsible for championing the Olympic values.

For more information, visit olympics.org.uk

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