Paignton gymnast Abi Martin misses out on World Championship medal

Paignton gymnast Abi Martin was cruelly denied a place on the World Championship podium after missing out on a bronze medal by the narrowest of margins.

The 18-year-old, competing in her third individual final at the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships, produced a superb floor routine to score 13.466 points – exactly the same total as France’s bronze medallist Maiana Prat.

But the tie-break, decided by the gymnasts’ execution scores, went against Martin, leaving the South Devon star in fourth place.

It was another agonising near miss for Martin, who trains at the South Devon School of Gymnastics and has established herself among the sport’s leading international competitors.

She has now finished fourth at the European Championships twice, alongside two seventh-place finishes, and suffered the same fate at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

There has, however, been plenty of success along the way. Martin won two silver medals and a bronze for Team England at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, underlining her ability to compete with the very best.

While the world medal continues to elude her, Martin’s latest performance was another demonstration of her quality on the biggest stage.

And there was further reason for celebration for the South Devon School of Gymnastics, thanks to fellow gymnast Willow-Mae Calland.

The Torquay Academy student made a memorable international debut, helping Great Britain to a team bronze medal at a four-way international competition in Dresden, where the British team faced eventual winners Germany, France and Switzerland.

Calland also recorded the highest scores for Great Britain on both beam and bars, finished 10th in the all-around competition and took seventh place in both the bars and beam finals.

Her beam performance was particularly impressive, producing a personal best on her first appearance at international level.

The achievement was all the more remarkable given that Calland had broken her toe exactly six months earlier, an injury which required two operations.

For the young Torquay gymnast, it was an outstanding return from a difficult spell on the sidelines – and a debut to remember.

Between Martin’s world-class performance and Calland’s breakthrough on the international stage, the South Devon gymnastics school once again had plenty to celebrate, even if Martin was left wondering what might have been after coming so close to a World Championship medal.