A gymnast from the Wirral is the new British double mini trampoline trampoline champion.
Beth Williamson, who trains at Birkenhead Trampoline club, recently won gold in the Trampoline, Tumbling & DMT British Championships at Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
She came up against 36 people on her path to gold.
The 24-year-old started off her journey aged five when she went to a sports centre and a trampolinist walked past her and her sister which resulted in them getting involved from a young age.
Ahead of the competition she spent six weeks training, which came with its own pressure.
She said:” The pressure is a crazy feeling, because you’ve trained so many hours for 10 seconds where something can go wrong.
“I think you just have to remember that you’re in control of what you’re doing and all the work you’ve put in you can replicate as long as you don’t crack under the pressure.”
It was a long journey to winning gold. Williamson came same close in the past, winning silver in 2017, bronze in 2021 and another bronze in 2022. But she put the success of her victory to the team.
She said: “A lot of it has be down to team ethics. The way we worked together was different compared to previous years. We all worked together so well, we all supported each other so well. Team bonding is a key part.”
Photo credit- Simone Ferraro
Williamson competes for the Great Britain DMT team and said the path to selection was rewarding.
“You go to competitions which the British gymnastics put on and you must hit certain scores to make the team,” she said.
“So then they’ll take the highest ranked four. It was so exciting when I find out I got picked. It was tough to get selected. The skills are quite high, there’s so many people going for it. To make it was amazing.”
It’s an Olympic year in 2024 but unfortunately her event won’t be at the Paris games.
She explained: ”I’ve always wanted to go the Olympics, but my trampolining event is not in it. The only way I would go to the Olympics is if I switched back to trampoline which is unlikely because it’s so different to DMT.”
Speaking about what is next she said: ”The Europeans are at the start of next year which I’m hoping to go to and after that its and Olympic year, so we have no world championships.
“I want to do Europeans and then have a little bit of a break because the last time I had one was during Covid. It’s been go, go, go since Covid. Then hopefully make 2025 which might be in Australia.
“Competitions can be so close together and you don’t really have time to have a break whereas when there is no competitions at the end of the year, as much as you want to compete, it’s nice to have a bit of time off when you don’t have to be training so hard for something.”
