Local gymnast looks to 2012

Local gymnast, Francesca Grout, aged 10 is getting ready for a tough challenge next week when she enters the British National Gymnastics finals in Guildford. And she hopes her performance will secure her a place in the Great Britain Squad ready for the lead up to the 2012 Olympics.

Francesca, from Bradford-on-Avon, trains at the City of Bristol's Gymnastic Centre in Hartcliffe, south Bristol. She is the women's gymnastic artistic southwest champion for her age group.

In the national finals on Sunday, November 5, Francesca will be competing against the best gymnasts in the country. Only the top ten gymnasts will be selected for a coveted place in the national squad.

Carol Malone, Bristol City Council's Gymnastics Development officer and Francesca's coach, said: "Francesca is a very talented gymnast. She has been training very hard for this competition. Her commitment and dedication to gymnastics is an inspiration to the other gymnasts who use the centre. We are all hoping she will do well in the finals."

Francesca spends 18 hours a week training at the council-run Bristol Gymnastics Centre. The centre opened just over a year ago. It is a state-of-the-art facility with a full range of competition apparatus, including: beams; parallel bars; rings; asymmetric bars; vaults and pommel horse. There is also a sprung floor, trampolines, spectator seating and café.  

Since its opening in 2005, hundreds of budding gymnasts, potential Olympic hopefuls and local people just looking to get fit and have fun, have joined es at the centre. As well as offering gymnastic training, the centre offers a wide range of other sports and fitness activities from tots' trampolining to circuit training, Pilates to martial arts and dance to children's parties.

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