South Devon gymnast wins European silver

Abigail Martin from South Devon School of Gymnastics helped Team GB achieve a silver medal in the European Gymnastics Championships in Italy.

Making her senior international debut, Abi, 16, was superb throughout the event, competing alongside team-mates Becky Downie MBE, Alice Kinsella, Ruby Evans and Georgia-Mae Fenton.

Becky Downie told the British Gymnastics website: "I’m super proud of the team and personally so happy to have put the big routine out there and get the score for these amazing girls.

“We couldn’t have done much more as a team today, to see how Abi and Ruby in particular performed in their first Europeans was incredible. It feels like we’re in a really good place as a team and I’m excited to see what might come this summer.”

Fenton opened the event for Team GB with a tremendous vault, scoring 13,666, and that was followed by Kinsella scoring 14.1 and a 14.066 from Evans.

Kinsella took on the challenge of uneven bars with a score of 13.766 and Fenton, who already had an individual bronze on this apparatus, came out with the same score as her team-mate. The experienced produced a brilliant routine with a score of 14.633.

The beam was, as always, a difficult challenge and Fenton was hampered by an early fall. She recovered for a score of 11.9 and this was backed up by Kinsella (13.233) and Downie (12.833). On floor, Evans kicked things off with a 13.4 and then came Abi’s big moment. The South Devon star was full of energy and enterprise, impressing the Italian crowd and the judges with a routine that added 13.166 to the team score. Kinsella finished off with a 13.633.

It all added up to a silver for Team GB. Italy took the gold medal and France the bronze. Congratulations Abi!