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Wilson ‘giving back’ already

Sadia Wilson

Sadia Wilson, the Bermuda gymnast, will do her part in helping to inspire the next generation of gymnasts in Britain at a special training session to be run by Claire Starkey, the Notts Gymnastics Academy head coach.

The purpose of the two-hour-long exercise, to be held on May 29, is to help inspire younger gymnasts between the ages of 6 and 10 through training with the academy’s senior elite gymnasts, such as Wilson, under the expert guidance of Starkey. The aim is also to raise funds, with all proceeds from entry fees going in support of the Women’s Artistic Discipline.

“Helping to raise funds for Notts and coaching the younger gymnasts will be fun,” said Wilson, who resides in Nottingham, England, with her grandmother. “Claire Starkey is a good head coach and I am glad to be helping the younger gymnasts under her direction.”

During the upcoming endeavour, young gymnasts will be afforded the opportunity to train with Becky Downie, the British Olympic and World Championship member, Ellie Downie, the World Schools Games medal-winner, British High Performance Squad member and European Youth Olympics vault champion, as well as England squad members Jessica Coombs, Katy Bramley and Wilson, the Bermuda champion, under the direction of Starkey.

Wilson, 13, injured herself recently but is expected to make a full recovery before the upcoming event.

“I was training really hard for two competitions in June and injured my ankle,” she said. “But I will be back to full training next week.”

The teenaged athlete, who is aiming to represent Bermuda at the 2016 Rio Olympics, moved to Britain last September to continue her development alongside other Olympic hopefuls at the Notts Gymnastics Academy.

Wilson underlined her enormous potential while representing Bermuda at the NatWest Island Games last year when she won gold medals in the balance beam and uneven parallel bars.

After relocating to Britain, she went on to win three gold medals and a silver at the Sandra Clarke Invitational in a competition that featured several of Britain’s top-ranked gymnasts.

More recently she produced back-to-back impressive displays at the Miss Alpha Factor Meet and English Championships last month to earn a call-up to the England squad, along with Bramley and Coombs, her team-mates at the Notts academy.

Sadia Wilson