Q&A with Team GB gymnast Claudia Fragapane

Q&A with Team GB gymnast Claudia Fragapane

Check out this Q&A with Team GB gymnast Claudia Fragapane. She’s previously won the BBC Young Sports Personality Award, is a serious hopeful for Rio 2016 and won four gold medals at 2014’s Commonwealth Games. All this and she’s only 18 years old.

How long have you been doing gymnastics for?

I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was six years old and I’m 18 now – so 12 years.

When did you realise you wanted to make a career out of it?

I started realising when I was about 10 years old and things started getting more serious. I wanted to be the best gymnast I could be.

If you weren’t involved in gymnastics, what would you like to be doing instead?

I have no idea really, I think I’d do something in sport. I might’ve gone in to diving, something like that. Definitely not swimming; I’m probably not tall enough!

What is your best competition memory and why?

So far it would have to be coming third at the 2015 World Championship. I remember training back home and trying to do everything as well as I could, and it came good in the end.

What’s the biggest struggle you’ve faced as a female athlete?

I would just say, not cracking under pressure. The amount of people who expect you to do so well, you have to try and block that out and overcome it.

What’s your favourite discipline in gymnastics and why?

I would say the floor because you get to express who you are and you get to do all those big tumbles. I would probably say beam as well, although that’s quite scary at the moment as I’ve upgraded my routine quite a lot – but I do still enjoy it.

What do you enjoy doing on a day off? What do you do to relax?

I like to go shopping with my nieces and nephews and I like to go for meals with my family and have a good catch up.

What do you do to stay strong and fit for gymnastics?

I just keep doing my training for the amount of hours I do. It’s about six hours a day. Then I go to the gym and doing fitness work as well; a lot of stamina work.

Have you got any advice for anyone thinking about trying gymnastics as an adult?

It’s a really good way to keep fit and lead a healthy life. It also improves your balance and coordination.

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