Sue's Sports Starter by Sue_Thearle

The start of December always signals the beginning of the slippery slope towards Christmas. You know that awful moment when you realise how much you have to do to get organised on the food/present/family front. But one of my favourite guilty pleasures around this time of year is sitting amidst the debris of Xmas decorations and early wrapping, to watch Sports Personality of the Year. (Sunday Dec 13th 7pm)

So I was delighted this year to see that Beth Tweddle had been nominated. For those of you who aren’t quite up to speed on your gymnastics, well she is a British World Champion. Yes she is that good. And what has made her year all the more remarkable, is that she won a world title in front of an adoring British public at the O2 Arena with a breath-taking floor routine, after cocking up her favourite event – the bars. Real Hollywood stuff.

And at the grand old age of 24 she is a veteran...... actually that really is, or used to be old when you consider the golden years of gymnastics which featured tiny teenage prodigies like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci. Alas I am old enough to recall those years rather well and I too was caught by the gymnastics bug.

Yes I used to heave myself into an ill-fitting leotard and do my darndest to flick flack with the best of them. I did, after much difficulty and personal sacrifice, manage to get all four of my BAGA badges. But I reluctantly hung up my gymnastics slippers at the tender age of 9, when I could bear it no longer. That was also around the time my PE teacher called me a heffalump I might add. I know. I really do have to let that go..... However she was technically correct and my sporting prowess certainly lay in other directions.

But these days the age barrier is being pushed back by gymnasts like Tweddle, who hasn’t ruled out having a crack at London 2012. And Britain has got strength in depth at last with Daniel Keatings and Louis Smith real medal contenders at the London Olympics, with a host of junior talent coming through. And the participation numbers are high. There are over 120 clubs in the south-east alone with over 22,000 members. And even though the vast majority of those children won’t develop a long-term interest in the sport, the early grounding they have in gymnastics, will encourage them to maintain a healthy active lifestyle and benefit them in other sports they go into.

I am a classic example. Didn’t make the grade in gymnastics but went on to fall in love with hockey, netball and football. My children love tumbling around on the floor and my daughter is especially keen on learning to do a handstand. I did offer to show her the other day and almost did myself a serious injury. I fear the days of forward rolls, or roly polys as we like to call them in our house, are long since gone for me..... But if you want to give it a go, or maybe your kids do, then the British Gymnastics is the place to go. Happy flick flacking.....