Olympic dream

I started running from the age of 12. I started at school. My PE teacher, Debbie Page, was somebody really motivating and told me I could be good. She got me to run in a cross-country race I really didn't want to do because it meant mud, wind, wet, cold, rain and all of that, and I hate it all. And anyway, I came second against a girl that was really good for our age group, and it made me think, "Next time I want to win." What made me start at gym, really, and keep it going, is the adrenalin rush and the excitement of just being able to do backflips and things like that which no other sport can do. I remember watching the 2004 Olympics and then I used to think, "Look at those gymnasts, they're my idols." And then I think in 2005 I was actually competing against some of the people I was admiring, so it was quite a weird feeling. I remember Marius Urzica was the best pommel horse worker and I loved watching him and I just thought to myself, "I'd love to be able to beat him." And then at the Glasgow Grand Prix in 2006 I came so close to actually beating him. There's a gymnast I remember watching at the last Olympics called Hiroyuki Tomita, from Japan, who I was pretty inspired by. I like his skills, I like his line. He's just one of those gymnasts that I want to be like and he's got a really good chance in this years's Olympics so I kinda look up to him. It would be great just to compete alongside him and hopefully I can show him what I'm made of. I was 14 years old when I watched the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 1984. Showing my age. I watched Sebastian Coe, who was at that time my absolute hero, winning his second gold medal for 1500 metres. And at that moment when I watched that it was absolutely the kind of inspiration I needed to want to become an Olympic champion. Last year in the World Championships our team qualified two places for Beijing. Me and Louis happened to be those two gymnasts and it's just amazing that we come from the same club and grew up together. We've both made it there so we can support each other all the way.