Becky Downie is in the midst of describing every thought and every feeling she has during her absurd uneven bar routine, one of the most difficult in the world, when she pauses for a second and sighs: “It blows my mind every day once I’ve done a bar routine, what I do, because you do so much in such a short space of time.”
Downie is speaking as the British team make their final preparations for the Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart which begin on Friday. The 27-year-old has spent much of the morning in Lilleshall, the home of British Gymnastics, constantly repeating the hardest part of the routine – three connected skills so blindingly fast that even her rivals stop to watch. In only a couple of seconds, Downie circles the top bar and leaps into the air, half-twisting as she catches the bar backwards. As the swing propels her backwards, she twists again as she throws herself down to the bottom bar before immediately flying back to the top.
Written by Tumaini Carayol
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/03/becky-downie-gymnastics under the title “Becky Downie: ‘You have to be so good they can’t not put you on a team’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
