Occupation
Athlete
Family
Partner Tia
Spoken languages
English
Club
City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club: England
Coach
Lee Woolls [personal], from 2008
International senior debut
2017
Injuries
He suffered a foot fracture two weeks before the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. He had also ruptured his appendix three weeks before that, but went on to win three gold medals in Birmingham. (theguardian.com, 01 Aug 2022)
He underwent surgery on his left shoulder in 2021, after competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 18 Aug 2021; ealingtimes.co.uk, 19 Aug 2021)
He damaged ligaments in his ankle after a fall from the horizontal bar and was unable to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. He returned to international competition at the 2018 World Challenge Cup event in Guimaraes, Portugal. (skysports.com, 21 Jun 2018, 19 Jan 2018; thecgf.com, 04 Apr 2018; Instagram profile, 17 Jan 2018)
He has dislocated his finger and broken his elbow during his career. (skysports.com, 19 Jan 2018)
Start sporting career
He took up the sport at about age five.
Reason for taking up the sport
He enjoyed doing flips at home, so his mother sent him to a gym to learn how to do it properly. "My parents both did gymnastics so you could say it's in my genes. My sister did gymnastics too, but she has stopped now. I tried to get involved with as many sports as I could at school. Gymnastics had my heart and one day a week turned into two days a week, and before I knew it, I was doing gymnastics every evening. I think it just developed slowly. I did not necessarily decide one day that gymnastics was my sport, it was more gradual. Before I knew it, it was my full-time job."
Milestones
He became the first gymnast representing Great Britain to win gold on parallel bars at the world championships when he finished in first place at the 2019 edition in Stuttgart, Germany. (skysports.com, 24 May 2021; SportsDeskOnline, 25 Sep 2021)
Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. (olympics.com, 11 Oct 2022)
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning three gold medals [in pommel horse, parallel bars, and the team event] at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. (olympics.com, 11 Oct 2022; thecgf.com, 01 Jan 2022)
Hero / Idol
Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura. (birmingham.livingmag.co.uk, 27 Dec 2017)
Most influential person in career
Coach Lee Woolls. (olympics.com, 11 Oct 2022; rocketsports.co.uk, 18 May 2021)
Philosophy / Motto
"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 you to develop and focus when needed to." (skysports.com, 21 Jun 2018)
Additional information
EXTRA DIGITS
He was born with six fingers on each hand and had an operation to remove the extra digits when he was a baby. (skysports.com, 21 Oct 2019)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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