Becky Downie: A Star Not Ready to Fade

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As well as this national dominance, she has become a mainstay of the Great Britain squad, winning a silver medal at this year’s European team event in Birmingham.

First competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne at the tender age of fourteen, her experience spans across all major competitions. The twelfth place she attained within Beijing’s artistic individual field was the best Olympic showing by a gymnast from these shores. Though youthful exuberance has driven the enthusiasm and vigour of her performances, Downie is certainly aware of when to adopt a knowledgeable tone of understanding.

“Well Beth (Tweddle) is seven years older than me, but I guess I am kind of a senior figure in the squad,” she genially explains. “There is also Imogen (Cairns), but I have been around for quite a while and am certainly one of the older members.”

Competing alongside Tweddle, who at 25 is the grand old lady of gymnastics, certainly seems to have rubbed off on Downie and the Nottingham teenager fondly acknowledges such stoic influence.

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“Beth has been great, especially with the Olympics,” she continues. “(Beijing) was the first Games for the entire team and that’s a different experience to any other competition. She helped us all through it.”

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There is an aura of maturity exuded by Downie that her infectious smile cannot dispel. As she pinpoints the specific significance of her time in the Chinese capital, event, her poise mirrors that which she perennially displays on the vault, the bars, the beam and the floor.

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“It was really good, we got to watch some of the athletics and also saw Tom (Daley) in his diving. We got on with the divers particularly well because it’s quite similar to gymnastics.”

“We didn’t really pick each other brains, but it was just interesting. They have to somersault to their head, obviously, to land in the water so we just turn that round to land on our feet.”

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A sense of hungry eagerness that shines through here, essential for the six hours she spends daily in the gym at the Nottinghamshire Gymnastics Club, will also stand Downie in good stead as London’s Olympic horizon comes closer. Crucially though, there are calculated and pragmatic dimensions to her aspirations that have been forged over a glittering decade in the sport.

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“Our chances of aiming for a medal in Beijing were pretty slim,” says Downie, admirably laying the burning pride of an international sportswoman aside to grasp some realistic perspective.

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“So we just went out there with the aim of enjoying ourselves and getting what we could out of the experience. We did that, and now towards London we’ll aim a bit higher.”

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A bout of illness meant that Downie was not able to complete all disciplines in the individual competition of last month’s World Championships in Rotterdam, but she battled through to put in an impressive showing on the vault in the team final, propelling Great Britain to an encouraging seventh-placed result. Given that the initial aim had been to break into the top eight, a firm stepping stone towards a medal in London has been put down.

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The “added pressure” of the team event is something that Downie enjoys and, managing to fit in A-levels around a rigorous training regime, she obviously thrives on any extra responsibility. Another duty she will be thrust in the near future, nurturing her younger sister through the start of her career in gymnastics, will surely be taken up with aplomb.

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Ellie has just claimed the Under-12 national all-round title and, though a home Olympics would be a magical pinnacle for any athletes, there is a prospect further down the line that could be even more exciting for her older sibling.

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In 2016, Becky Downie will be 24, not as old as Tweddle but, should she still be competing, unquestionably in the twilight of her time in gymnastics. Treading the Olympic floor in Rio de Janeiro alongside a sister is a fantastic possibility. Modest throughout, however, Downie refuses to get carried away.

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“Ellie’s still at the baby side of it but she’s doing really well,” she finishes. “It would be really nice to compete with her. Ellie has definitely got a very bright looking future and that may well include the Rio Olympics.”

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“For me, though, I don’t know. It’s quite a long way away, but as long as my body’s holding up and everything’s on track I don’t see any reason just to give it up. Wait and see what happens, I guess.”

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