By Carl Field
With her sights firmly set on the Paris Olympics this summer, Ruby Evans will hope to book her ticket to the greatest show on Earth next month.
Evans has been named in the senior Great Britain women’s team for the artistic gymnastics European Championships in Rimini, Italy, in May in a line-up that also includes Ondine Achampong, Alice Kinsella, nine-time senior European medallist Becky Downie MBE and Georgia-Mae Fenton.
It will be Cardiff star Evans’ second major championship appearance having been part of the British women’s team who went to the World Championships in Antwerp last October where, competing on vault and floor, she helped GB qualify in a superb second, before they would eventually have to settle for sixth place in the team final.
Huge congratulations to our gymnasts @EllieGym Ruby Evans and Jemima Taylor on your selection 👏👏👏@WelshGymnastics https://t.co/A26b0I6usy
— sian knott (Harries) (@sianknott) April 4, 2024
Last month Evans secured a stunning silver medal in the senior women’s all-around competition at the British Championships in Liverpool, finishing runner-up behind Aylesbury’s Achampong.
Great Britain will also be looking to defend the European women’s team title won 12 months ago in Antalya, Turkey – a team which included Achampong, Kinsella, Downie and Fenton.
However an ACL tear means Jessica Gadirova, the three-time and reigning European floor champion, misses out.
The women’s senior and junior competitions take place between 2-5 May, with the men’s events taking centre stage first at the same venue from 24-28 April.
Meanwhile, Welsh rising stars Ellie Lewis and Jemima Taylor have been named in the junior Great Britain women’s team for the Europeans.
https://twitter.com/ActusGym/status/1769434001092071715
Lewis, who hails from Bridgend, was second in the junior women’s all-around competition at the British Championships last month while Taylor, from Newport, impressed when she competed at the Junior World Championships in Turkey last year. Last month she won junior British silver on the floor.
Lewis and Taylor both helped win a team bronze for Team GB at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Slovenia last summer.
In addition, Elliot Vernon – who helped Wales bag Northern European team silver last November – has been named as a reserve for the British junior men’s team.
Vernon, who trains out of Leeds gymnastics club, won rings and pommel horse silver in the juniors at the British Championships last month and was seventh in the all-around competition.
Ruby Evans Shines In Wales . . . And Can Sparkle On Olympic Stage This Summer