Gymnast Becky Downie discusses juggling her Olympic ambitions with her final year of A-Levels.
Team GB artistic gymnast talks about her Olympic preparations
Britain's top artistic gymnast, Becky Downie, reveals she is busier than ever at the moment, juggling her Olympic ambitions with her final year of A-Levels.
The Nottingham gymnast, who has seven British titles and two Commonwealth medals to her name, is aiming to get back to the peak of her performance following a rough spell.
The 20-year-old, who finished 12th at the Olympic Games in 2008, told
Sky Sports News Radio: "I've had a bit of a hard time the last year-and-a-half really, including my Achilles last January.
"This year I'm looking to try to get back ready for the All-Around to try to get that title back but if it doesn't happen and I'm not able to compete on all four, I'm just going to be working as hard as I can on the individual apparatus to try and help the team out as much as I can."
Combination
With a mixture of power and strength with elegance, artistic gymnastics encompasses many aspects. The four pieces of apparatus used include the bars, vault, beam and the floor.
However, as Downie explains, it is both a team and individual sport.
"We always put the team first- for qualification rounds, we will go out and compete as a team but our individual performances on each apparatus will also enable us to qualify through to individual finals. There is one competition which qualifies you for everything."
Currently training pretty much non-stop ahead of the Games, the gymnast is also trying to fit in revision time ahead of her final exams this summer.
She added: "I'm doing my final year Sociology at sixth form-I'm hardly ever there because I put so many hours in at the gym but I try and fit it in as and when I can. My teachers are really helpful, they help me catch up when I do have a bit of free time, they'll come and do extra work with me...hopefully it will all work out."
Future
With the profile of the sport improving constantly, especially with the success of Beth Tweddle and the like, Downie is optimistic about the future of gymnastics.
She said: "Hopefully over the next few years, if it doesn't quite happen at this Olympics-everyone would love it to and we are working hard to get those medals-then I'm sure the generations that are to come will be able to follow our footsteps and get those medals eventually."
With the Olympic Games countdown now well and truly underway, the young hopeful cannot wait for the competition to begin.
"It's really exciting. We had our World Championships at the 02 (the Olympic venue) in 2009 and it was amazing. The crowd were 100% behind you and in a sport like gymnastics, it definitely does help. When you've got the crowd behind you as well, I think it's definitely an advantage for us," she added.
