Great Britain’s 16 year old Amy Tinkler is now Britain’s youngest athlete to win a medal at the Olympics in 32 years, after she won Bronze at the women’s floor exercise event on Tuesday. It is an astonishing rise for the teenager who just last month sat in a school hall to take her GCSE exams and will collect her results on the day she returns from Brazil. Holding back tears after her win, she said:
“I can’t believe it. I knew I was Team GB’s youngest athlete but this is crazy and I’m still in shock at the minute. ‘It was a bit nerve-wracking watching the other athletes and knowing you are so close to a medal but I would have been happy with wherever I was place.’ ‘I went out there and did my best and enjoyed it so whatever the result, I would have been happy. I really am speechless”.
Continuing Tinkler admitted “I put no pressure on myself and neither did my coaches. They just told me I had nothing to lose and to go out and enjoy it. I had made the floor final at the Olympics and deserved to be in it so I enjoyed it. As soon as I finished my routine, I knew I couldn’t do any better”.
“It has been an incredible week for British gymnastics. Hopefully there is a lot more to come from me and you will see me back out here in 2020” she added.