PINEWOOD Gymnastics Club star Lucie Colebeck says it was a “real honour” to be named Outstanding Athlete of the Year at the British Gymnastics national awards ceremony.
Colebeck, 20, has trained at Wokingham’s Pinewood for the past 15 years and was recognised for her efforts, which included a silver medal at the World Championships, by being named the top athlete from the ‘non-Olympic’ category.
But after a slow start to the year, she admits the honour came as a big surprise.
“I’m extremely happy,” Colebeck told The Wokingham Paper.
“I got informed about three days beforehand and when I got the email to be told about the award I was extremely shocked.
“In 2015 I thought I worked hard and to be recognised for that is a real honour.”
She continued: “It was all to do with my 2015.
“I struggled with a mental block at the beginning of the year and didn’t really think I was going to compete in any competitions during that year.
“I went to the British Championships and came first which was a real confidence booster.
“We had a World Cup just before the World Championships and I actually didn’t complete one of my twisting elements which decreased my confidence a lot.
“But then we had a new programme leading up to the Worlds and worked hard, trained hard and going there and doing well with my team was my main goal.
“To also receive an individual silver medal was a real highlight of my year.”
Colebeck, who lives in Binfield, has been competing in her current discipline of tumbling since she was 10 years old and combines her training with coaching gymnastics both at Pinewood and various local schools including Ludgrove in Wokingham.
And she now has her eyes set on an important year for the sport in 2017.
“Now is kind of like play time for us,” she said.
“We haven’t got any competitions coming up until next year and next year is a big year for us.
“It’s the World Games which is hosted every four years.
“My main aspiration is to qualify for that and go and just show how good the Great Britain tumblers have become.”
Colebeck was in good company at the weekend’s awards ceremony in Leicester.
Olympic champion and one of the favourites for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award Max Whitlock took the equivalent award to Colebeck in the ‘Olympic’ category.
But that is something the former St Crispin’s School pupil is unlikely to be able to win in the forseeable future.
“Tumbling isn’t an Olympic discipline which is a shame,” explained Colebeck.
“There’s been talk about it becoming one but nothing certified yet.
“I was (in Rio this summer) doing the gymnastics gala.
“It was brilliant to showcase tumbling as a non-Olympic event and I think the audience thoroughly enjoyed it from what I’ve heard.
“It was a great experience to be part of the Olympic Games, especially to be a part of the Great Britain athletes out there who did tremendously.
“I felt very proud to be a part of Team GB.”
