Shropshire Star

Alice Kinsella 'over the moon' with Commonwealth Games gold

Alice Kinsella capped off her maiden Commonwealth Games with the complete set of medals and now plans on spending the next 24 hours scoffing her face to celebrate!

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Alice Kinsella

The 17-year-old, from Walsall and who's a member of Telford's Park Wrekin Gymnastics Club, was part of the England team that won team silver on Friday before adding all-around bronze on Saturday and she topped that on Monday with gold in the beam.

While she could not add a fourth medal in the floor, falling on her final tumble, it still completed a dream journey Down Under, with Kinsella in the mood to celebrate.

She said: “It was great feeling to get that gold, I was over the moon – I am still speechless and don’t really know what to say.

“It has been hard but I am just going to go back now and eat as much as I can.

Alice Kinsella
Alice Kinsella
Alice Kinsella

“Pizza and brownies will be the best, it has been so hard to resist, but I can go out and eat them now. I will probably only get a day to do it so I need to make the most of it.

“It means everything to me to have won gold, I went out there feeling confident because I came second in qualification.

“I wanted to go out there, be confident and I stuck the routine so I was expecting a medal but not gold – that was amazing!

“My mum doesn’t like flying, but they will have been watching the TV and screaming and shouting.”

While England’s men were expected to dominate the gymnastics with the likes of Max Whitlock and Nile Wilson, the women’s team arrived without Glasgow hero Claudia Fragapane, Olympic bronze medallist Amy Tinkler and Rio pair Ellie and Becky Downie.

At 17, Kinsella was the second oldest member of the team, but along with Georgia-May Fenton, who won gold in the uneven bars, and 15-year-old Taeja James who was part of the team event at just 15, she helped England to second in the women’s gymnastics medal table behind Canada.

And Kinsella admitted the performances of her younger teammates had pushed her onto success in Australia.

She added: “I don’t think about (being the senior gymnast), I just go out and do what I did in training – that is all I can really do.

“Georgia-May inspired me with that bar routine and I wanted to go out there and do the same.

“I am so impressed with Taeja, she is only 15 years old and was called in at the last minute. She has done really well and I am so proud of her.

“Tokyo is my main goal, that is all I am thinking about right now – in terms of the rest – we don’t know right now.”

Her brother, Walsall footballer Liam, tweeted his support, saying: "Definition of hard work pays off".

npower is the Official Partner of Team England and is giving our athletes the power of support by recording a brand new version of their anthem, Jerusalem. To listen to the track visit npower.com/teamengland

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