Famous British Gymnasts

With his 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medal, Louis Smith became the second Black male gymnast to have won the medal. A pommel horse expert, he later won three more Olympic medals. He had ADHD as a child and later also won a choral scholarship but chose to focus on gymnastics instead.

Two-time Commonwealth gold-winning gymnast Nile Wilson is also a World Championship silver medalist and an Olympic bronze medalist. He retired from the sport at age 21. He is also a social-media star, with two popular YouTube channels, where he posts his work-out videos and other life stories.

Along with her twin sister, gymnast Jennifer Gadirova, British-born Azerbaijani gymnast Jessica Gadirova has created quite a stir in the gymnastics circuit. An expert in floor and vault, she has already won an Olympic bronze and a European Championship gold. She and her sister had taken up gymnastics at age 6.

Ellie Downie is a British artistic gymnast who has represented Great Britain in many European Championships and a couple of World Championships. A two-time World Championship bronze medal winner, Ellie Downie also won a gold medal at the 2017 European Championships, becoming the first Great Britain gymnast to receive a major all-around title.

Two-time European and Commonwealth Games champion gymnast Becky Downie didn’t compete at the Tokyo Olympic trial due to her brother’s sudden death. While the selections were delayed to ensure a fair judgement, she, nevertheless, failed to make the cut, for speaking against the culture of abuse in British gymnastics.

Known as Britain’s most successful gymnast, Beth Tweddle is a 3-time world champion and a 6-time European champion, apart from being an Olympic bronze medalist. Born in South Africa, she moved to England as a toddler and began training in gymnastics ate age 7. She has been named an MBE, too.

Amy Tinkler is a British retired artistic gymnast who won the bronze medal for the Floor Exercise event in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, Tinkler tore ligaments in her ankle while practicing for the Birmingham World Cup and could not participate in the event. In January 2020, she announced her retirement from gymnastics, at the age of 21. 

Apart from being a 3-time World champion and a 4-time European champion, Max Whitlock has also earned 6 Olympic medals, 3 of them gold. He also scripted history by becoming the first British artistic gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. He has been named an MBE, too.

Apart from 4 Commonwealth gold medals, British artistic gymnast Claudia Fragapane has also earned 3 European Championship silver medals and two World Championship bronze medals. She also reached the semi-finals of the reality show Strictly Come Dancing at 18, the second-youngest public figure on the show ever.

Alison Carroll is a British gymnast, actress, and model. She is best known for playing the popular video game character Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Underworld from 2008 to 2010. A professional display gymnast, Alison Carroll has represented the UK in several competitions.

Amelie Morgan is an English artistic gymnast who won the bronze medal in the women's artistic team all-around event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. In 2021, she won the bronze medal in Uneven Bars at the European Women's Gymnastics Championships. Amelie Morgan also had a prolific junior career; she won five medals at the 2018 Junior European Championships. 

Olympic bronze medal-winning British gymnast Alice Kinsella is also a European and Commonwealth champion. The daughter of former Irish footballer Mark Kinsella, she grew up in a sports-loving environment. She once publicly appealed to online trolls to cut down on their abusive comments directed toward her just before the Tokyo Olympics.

Apart from being an actor and a musician, Viva Seifert is also former rhythmic gymnast who has represented Britain in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She won a Game Award for her role in the video game Her Story and has performed as part of Bikini Atoll and Joe Gideon & the Shark.

Damien Walters is an English athlete, stuntman, and former gymnast. Walters, who specializes in trampoline and tumbling, has taken part in four Trampoline World Championships. In 2003, he helped his team win the World Title of Trampoline World Championships in the team competition. As a stunt performer, Walters received the 2010 Taurus World Stunt Award for the film Ninja Assassin.

Bryony Page is a trampoline gymnast who became the first English trampolinist to win a medal at the Olympics when she won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. In 2021, she became the first English female gymnast to win Olympic medals in two or more Games when she won a bronze medal at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. 

Joe Fraser is an artistic gymnast who became the first and only English gymnast to win gold on Parallel Bars at the world championships when he won the medal at the 2019 World Championships. Since 2017, Joe Fraser has been an important member of the English Senior team, helping his team win the silver medal at the 2018 European Championships.

Suzanne Dando is an English former gymnast who has represented Great Britain in important events like the 1979 World Gymnastics Championships and the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Suzanne Dando announced her retirement from gymnastics after the 1980 Olympics and then went on to work as a TV broadcaster for many channels, including Sky Sports, BBC One, and Channel 4.

Danusia Francis is a British-born artistic gymnast who has represented the United Kingdom in the past. She currently represents Jamaica; she participated in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where she represented Jamaica. However, she could not participate in many events like the floor exercise, the vault, and the balance beam as she tore her anterior cruciate ligament before the event.

Apart from being a Commonwealth champion and a 2-time European champion, British gymnast Kristian Thomas has also won his country an Olympic bronze. He retired in 2017, after earning 14 international medals. He has also been part of the Athletes' Commission of the British Olympic Association.

Olympian Brinn Bevan scripted history when he became part of the first World Championship medal-winning British men’s gymnastics team, when the team won a silver in 2015. The son of a London Welsh rugby player, he was destined to pursue sports as a career option. He also has a European Games bronze.

Charles Simmons was part of the men’s gymnastics team that won a bronze at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Before joining gymnastics, Simmons was a schoolteacher. He later served as a physical training instructor, too. One of his four children grew up to be British actor and singer Jean Simmons.

Daniel Purvis is a Scottish former artistic gymnast who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, representing Great Britain. The same year, he also won a gold medal at the European Championships in Montpellier. In 2015, Daniel Purvis and his team won a silver medal at the World Championships, becoming the first British men's team to do so.

Commonwealth gold-winning gymnast Georgia-Mae Fenton has also won her country, Britain, as silver in the same contest. She trains with the East London Gymnastics Club. She also has a British Championship silver and a World Challenge Cup silver in her kitty and was part of the European Youth Olympic Festival.

Artistic gymnast and Olympian Ruby Harrold has won Britain a Commonwealth team gold, apart from 2 European Championship silver medals and a World Championship gold. Equipped with a degree in kinesiology from LSU, she now works as a therapy assistant and is studying to get a degree in physiotherapy.

Suzanne Cox, also known by her stage name, Vogue, is a 4-time UK competitive aerobics champion. She soared to fame with the show Gladiators and had a 5-year stint on it. Known for her trademark back-flipping and her entry to Madonna’s Vogue, she later moved on to modeling and aerobics training.

A 3-time gold medalist in the Youth Olympics, Giarnni Regini-Moran has also earned 5 gold medals in the European Junior Championships. Starting training at age 3, he eventually made it to the British Olympic squad at the Tokyo 2020 games and helped the team secure the fourth place.

British retired gymnast and Olympian Hannah Whelan has won her country a Commonwealth team gold and a European Championship team silver. Born in Singapore, she moved to Britain as a toddler and began training in gymnastics at age 6. She is now a coach working with the Warrington Gymnastics Club.

Commonwealth gold-winning British gymnast and Olympian Lisa Mason retired at 19 but got back in the game in full swing at 31. She is now a successful trainer and a single mother. She also doubles up as a sports model at times and is known for her trademark over-the-top gymnastics attire.

Sports producer Barbara Slater is also a former gymnast and Olympian. Born into a family with a footballer father and a cricketer uncle, she was destined to step into sports. She now heads BBC Sport as its director. She is also a talented diver and squash player.

Apart from winning a team bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, British gymnast Sam Oldham is also a Youth Olympic and Commonwealth champion. The first British to win a major championship in the horizontal bar category, he announced his retirement from the sport in 2021.

Though she had a short stint as a gymnast, Jennifer Pinches has already represented Britain in the Olympics, helping them gain the sixth position in the 2012 London games. She has also been part of the NCAA, for the UCLA Bruins. A co-founder of Gymnasts for Change, she also campaigns against abuse.

Apart from a botched tumor-removal operation at 10, Kieran Behan also faced brain damage following a gymnastics accident at 12. However, he overcame all the hurdles and became the second Irish gymnast to be part of the Olympics. He also has 3 Northern European Championship gold medals in his kitty.

British gymnast and Olympian Rebecca Wing is also a Commonwealth team silver medal winner. Hailing from Farnborough, England, she studied engineering at Stanford University, having secured a scholarship to be part of their NCAA gymnastics team. She also loves traveling and sketching in her leisure time.

British gymnast and Olympian Amanda Reddin has had a successful coaching career, too, with star players such as Beth Tweddle and Jennifer Pinches as her trainees. The British Gymnastics head national coach, however, had to step down while investigations regarding physical mistreatment accusations against her were underway.