City News

Britain will be well represented when the 8th FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup Final comes to Birmingham on Saturday 25 November as a record seven British gymnasts have qualified for the event.

Invitations to the World Cup Final, which will see around 60 of the world’s best gymnasts competing in individual and synchronised trampoline and individual tumbling, have recently been issued by the FIG, the international governing body for the sport. The FIG only invites the top eight gymnasts in each category and the following seven British gymnasts have made the grade.

Claire Wright aged 27 who lives in Sandhurst has qualified for both the individual and synchronised trampoline. She is an experienced competitor who has won ten World Cup events in the synchronised discipline and won the World Cup Final in 2002.

In the synchronised trampoline Claire will compete with Jaime Moore who is also 27 and from Northampton. Earlier this year the pair won a gold medal at the World Cup event in Ghent. Jaime made history in 2000 when she represented Britain at the Sydney Olympics, the first time trampoline was included in the Olympic programme.

Mark Alexander from Enfield and Simon Milnes complete the British trampoline line up and they will compete in the men’s synchronised event. Mark won a silver medal in the synchronised trampoline at the 2000 World Cup Final so will be looking to emulate this achievement in Birmingham. Mark and Simon competed together at the 2004 World Cup Final in Algeria.

Britain has two qualifiers in the women’s tumbling with both 19 year old Sam Palmer from Milton Keynes and Zoë Mclean, who is the same age and from Wakefield, receiving invites to compete.

Both have been successful on the World Cup circuit this year with Sam winning gold in Russia and Zoë picking up a silver medal in the World Cup event in Flanders. Sam was also crowned European Champion in France earlier this year.

Damien Walters who is 24 and from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, will compete in the men’s tumbling at the World Cup Final. Damien struck gold in the team event at the European Championships earlier this year.

Alan Sommerville, Chief Executive of British Gymnastics said: “We are delighted that so many British gymnasts have been invited to compete and I am sure they will rise to the occasion at the National Indoor Arena in November. This event is a great opportunity for our gymnasts to experience international competition on home soil, especially with the 2012 Olympics in mind.”

Tickets for the event have been selling fast and organisers expect the news about a strong British contingent to boost sales even further. Event Director Garry Peal said: “Having so many British gymnasts competing in the event will give the home fans something to cheer. It would be great to have a sell out crowd at this event as I am sure this would inspire the Great Britain team to medal success.”

Tickets for the event, which start at £4 for concessions and £6 for adults (plus booking fees), have been selling well but there are still some available. They can be purchased by calling 0870 366 6543 and more information is available by logging onto www.british-gymnastics.org.

The event is being organised by Birmingham City Council and British Gymnastics and will be part funded by UK Sport , through their National Lottery funded World Class Events Programme.