The nerves were almost unbearable for gymnast Alice Kinselli, but she kept her cool to win GB’s first European beam gold in style.
Kinsella was the first to complete her program at the 2019 European Gymnastics Championships in Szczecin, Poland, and scored 13,566 points, which was ultimately enough to beat all the other finalists – including new European In-Universe Champion Melanie dos Santos by 0.1 points.
It was the first European medal for the 18-year-old – bringing GB’s championship tally to four, after Max Whitlock’s pommel gold and Ellie Downie’s all-time silver and bronze – although she struggled to come to terms with her success right after.
“There are so many thoughts going through my head right now – I can’t believe it,” Kinsella said. “It was a rollercoaster for me, my all-round competition didn’t go to plan, but I knew I had this beam final to fix it.
“My acro series was a bit shaky but I was determined not to crash, the rest of my routine went according to plan.
“I was so nervous watching the other girls compete, being first is the worst! To walk away with our first European medal is absolutely amazing.
Following the success of the beam, Kinsella was immediately back in action in the floor finals and scored 13,100 points to place her seventh, while her compatriot Claudia Fragapane placed fifth.
Meanwhile, Brinn Bevan finished seventh in the rail final, Courtney Tulloch was eighth in the jump final after failing to control his landing, and James Hall fell off the top rail so he did not complete his program as a precaution.
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