Joe Fraser makes history on injury comeback at Gymnastics World Cup
Thursday 21 June 2018 21:19, UK
Competing for the first time in over five months and unveiling your very own unique gymnastics skill made it quite a weekend for Joe Fraser.
The 19-year-old Sky Sports Scholar was in Portugal for the World Challenge Cup having recovered from a bad training injury suffered after Christmas.
Here are Fraser's thoughts and what his coach must now do after the Birmingham gymnast delivered some pommel magic....
"I was quite anxious going out to Portugal having not competed at that level in a long time and the fact that I had a new skill to unveil to the world.
Throughout my career, it's been a goal for me to develop my own skill in gymnastics that would be named after me.
It's something all gymnasts want. It's like leaving a legacy in the sport, having others doing 'the Fraser' and talking about the skill me and my coach have thought of.
Six years ago I came across an idea that was on the pommel horse and hadn't been done before.
I knew I had to keep it a secret until I had shown it on a major stage so it would be named after me. Many people have known that I have had a skill for a while but I didn't let them know what it was.
So when we announced that I was going to be competing the skill, there was quite a bit of hype as everyone wanted to know what it was.
It was such a proud moment when I stepped out to show it. I've now got something to leave in the gymnastics world forever which is pretty cool.
One of the things my coach said to me and my teammates growing up was that if we ever got our own skill he would get the symbol of it tattooed on him. So he now has to decide where to have it!
I have also increased my start values on my routines so that I can potentially score even more. I'm so proud of how much I've improved and was so happy to make the rings and pommel final in Portugal.
I was also ninth on the parallel bars with a fall on my dismount. This meant I was the first reserve for that apparatus.
In the rings and pommel finals, I made mistakes but it's all a big learning curve. It was my first competition for GB since my ankle injury so just to be back out there is so much of an achievement.
The next day was the parallel bars final and I was ready to do a routine but not really thinking that I would have to do one as I knew the line-up was sorted.
An hour before the competition my coach and I were told that one of the gymnasts was ill and I had been put into the final.
It was such a different experience for me but I had to get in my zone and compete. I ended up fifth in that final and given my situation I was pleased to have turned it on so quickly and produced a routine.
This is an experience I will take with me for the rest of my career having made such a forward step to where I want to go. I feel it's going to have made a positive influence on my training.
The one thing I have learned is to not wait until something is perfect to compete it. These things take time and you have to put yourself in situations that force yourself to develop and focus when needed to.
It was so much fun being out there again and I can't wait for the next few weeks of competitions.
