FOUR of Yate’s King Edmund Gym Club’s elite and up-and-coming stars have won silver medals in a World Cup gymnastics tournament in Switzerland.

Beth Dix (19), Chloe Gunter (20), Robert Bates (16) and Christopher Child (20) had been selected by Great Britain’s acrogymnastics team to represent them at senior level in World Cup showpieces in Bulgaria and Switzerland, together with their club coaches Kellie Chapman (Bulgarian trip) and John O’Mahony (Switzerland trip).

The first of the two illustrious competitions, held in the Bulgarian city of Varna, did not go to plan after 16-year-old Bates was forced to pull out through illness, however the girls went on to achieve a commendable fourth-place finish.

Remarkably Bates, who had been struck down by tonsillitis, hauled himself to his feet and was back in school taking important Year 11 exams only hours after returning home on the Sunday night.

He was on board a plane heading for the picturesque Swiss city of Geneva the following Tuesday morning and eager to atone for his Bulgarian disappointment just days prior.

Not only did he take to the mat with relish over the three scheduled days of competition but he, with the expert accompaniment of gym partner Child, claimed a silver medal.

Their achievement was matched by their female teammates Dix and Gunter, who also finished one off the top spot in the face of stiff competition from the likes of gold medallists China and third-placed Russia.

Jubilant King Edmund head coach Nikki Thorne said: “It was a dream come true to see both our pairs come home with medals.

“They were all absolutely elated, especially the girls as this was the first time they’d achieved anything like it.

“They couldn’t believe it had happened to them; that all those long hours spent in the gym had paid off so richly.

“For Rob and Chris it was a terrific achievement after what they’d been through in Bulgaria. They’d arrived on the Tuesday morning and Rob had to go straight to bed and be put on antibiotics.
“He dragged himself out of bed to compete on the Thursday, but on the Friday he was too ill to perform.

“Fortunately he was treated really well by local doctors and the International Federation of Gymnastics’ medical staff.

“Thankfully, by the time he’d got home on the Sunday the tablets had kicked in and he was feeling well enough to sit his exams on the Monday, join in training with us on the evening and fly out to Geneva the following morning.”

She added: “What these guys went through, not least poor Rob with his illness, shows just how tough it can be at the top.

“It is not a bed of roses when you reach that standard and he and the rest of the team showed just how determined they were to pick themselves up and go on to win medals in Geneva.

“They were all up against some quality nations in a pressure-cooker environment but all four held their nerve brilliantly, while many of their rivals, some top acro-gymnasts among them, crumbled.

“Two years ago our Shanie-Redd Thorne and Danielle Jones finished second overall after their two World Cup tournaments, but never before had we welcomed two pairs home with medals.”

Meanwhile, as the Swiss event was hotting up, 30 more King Edmund starlets were taking part in the annual National Development Plan (NDP) finals at Fenton Manor in Stoke.

Grace Monchar and Paige Weeks claimed golds in the grade five women’s pairs, while there were silvers for Sian Williams and Isobelle Mullins (disability grade one), Theo McGuigan and William Smith (men’s grade 1) and Laura Bateman, Hannah Bateman and Ellise King (out-of-age women’s group).

Third places were achieved by Lewis Hays and James Williams (men’s grade 2), Henry Skidmore and Fiona Cornick (mixed grade 2), Ryan Bennett and Chelsea Randino (mixed grade 6), Bex Adams, Bella Olivieri and Olivia Trott (grade 6 women) and Rachel Child, Emily Brown and Caelyn Walker (grade 5 women).

“Twenty-one of our 30 King Eddies’ gymnasts involved came back with medals,” said Nikki.

“It was the most we have ever taken as a club at the NDP finals.”