Newport gymnast in Great Britain team at junior championship

Evie Flage-Donovan and her Clwb Cymru Caerdydd teammate Ruby Evans, both 15, have been selected as part of the five-strong team to represent Britain in next month’s championships.

Flage-Donovan, a pupil at Lliswerry High School, earned her first British call-up after a superb start to 2022 – including winning gold on the beam in the junior competition at the British Championships.

In her first GB international – a three-way Under-15 contest in Haguenau in France last month – she helped Britain to second place in the team competition behind France.

Evie Flage-Donovan and Ruby Evans have been named in the Great Britain junior team for the 2022 Artistic European Championships. Picture: Welsh Gymnastics

Evans is the reigning back-to-back British junior champion after retaining her title at the Artistic British Championships in Liverpool at the end of March, where she also grabbed gold on the uneven bars.

The pair will join Abigail Martin from South Devon, Grace Davies from Robin Hood and Tiegan Trafford from Abingdon in representing Great Britain.

The Artistic European Championships take place from August 11 to 21 with Great Britain competing in the junior and senior competitions.

Women's Artistic Gymnastics head national coach for Welsh Gymnastics, Tracey Skirton-Davies, said: “We are immensely proud of Ruby and Evie and it has been a testament to their hard work

“Covid was tough on this age group, as they had a long time out of the gym, but they persevered through restricted training to come back really strong.

“They are a close bunch of girls in the GB junior squad – and I know they will really pull together and enjoy the experience of their first major event.”

The senior women’s line-up includes three of the bronze-medal winning team from the Tokyo Olympic Games in Alice Kinsella and twins Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova.

Three of the men’s team from Tokyo also return, with Joe Fraser, James Hall and Giarnni Regini-Moran named.