Ellie Downie wins first British Championship title at Liverpool
Last Updated: 25/03/17 8:38pm
Ellie Downie claimed the women's all-around title at the British Gymnastics Championships at a sold-out Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday night.
The 17-year-old eclipsed team-mates Claudia Fragapane and Amy Tinkler to take the crown for the first time with a string of confident performances.
Downie, who was part of the hugely successful Great Britain team at last year's Rio Olympics, scored 55.350 ahead of Alice Kinsella and Maisie Methuen.
The result added to Downie's growing medal collection after she had taken all-around bronze at the European Championships two years ago.
Returning from a period away from the sport, Fragapane qualified first for Sunday's individual apparatus final with a crowd-pleasing performance on the floor.
Tinkler, in her first competitive performance since her shock Rio bronze medal, finished eighth on the parallel bars, which was also just enough to earn a place in Sunday's individual final.
The 17-year-old, who is shrugging off the after-effects of a minor calf injury, is targeting next month's World Cup and European Championships in London and Romania respectively.
Joe Fraser was a surprise winner of the men's all-around competition in his first year in the senior competition.
Fraser, who won the junior British title last year, totalled 82.100 ahead of Dominick Cunningham and James Hall, who shared the silver medal on 80.800.
