Daventry gymnast tumbles her way to gold medal

Parker E-Act pupil Pippa Eyles, 12, has just been crowned British Tumbling Champion in her age group.

She started artistic gymnastics aged five before moving over to the Tumbling discipline in May 2018. Her first major competition was in March 2019, finishing second in the qualifier for the British Championships.

Pippa then competed at the British championships in the 9-10 age category and despite performing with a dislocated finger, still managed to collect the silver medal, confirming her ranking as second in the UK for her age. This performance saw Pippa selected for the GB Performance Pathway Development Squad.

Training formally resumed in the same capacity it had prior to April 2021. This last competition was the British Open Age championships with no qualification event due to the pandemic.

Pippa recently competed in the National Women’s 11-12 age category and secured the gold medal. She has retained her spot on the GB squad and in 2022 will be eligible to compete in the European and world age championships.

The young gymnast trains three or four times a week at Milton Keynes gymnastics and gave particular thanks to her coaches - Mikey French (head coach) Beth Davies and Dylan Zastron. The club boasts an outstanding programme with a number of GB squad members, five of which have just recently been chosen to represent the country at the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan later this year. She also wants to thank her family for their continual support in getting to this level.

Pippa wants to further her education doing something within a sporting field as well as joining the Cirque du Soleil.