Britain’s Hannah Whelan won both the beam and floor bronze medals in an outstanding performance to end the 2012 women’s artistic gymnastics European Championships.
Having led the team all week it was her turn to shine as an individual, as she performed a superb beam routine under high pressure to score 14.333 and follow it up on the very next piece of apparatus with 14.533 on floor.
The beam medal is Britain’s first ever at a major championships on that piece, and testament to Hannah’s great experience and composure under pressure.
On floor she produced a perfectly executed routine, with outstanding dance, great confidence, maturity, and plenty of style.
The Beijing Olympian and reigning British champion claims her first major medals to complete a very encouraging week for the British team in which Gabrielle Jupp also took floor bronze in the junior event, and 15-year-old new seniors Rebecca Tunney and Ruby Harrold both made event finals with outstanding championship performances.
Hannah Whelan said afterwards, “It feels amazing I’m over the moon, it’s really unexpected. I wanted to come out and enjoy the competition and I definitely did.
“I enjoy training beam and feel naturally comfortable on it and to get our first ever medal on that piece is very special. I’ve always dreamed of getting major medals and to come away with two is unbelievable. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year.”
You can watch the rest of her interview and see her medals in this video:
Lizzie Flint, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
