NEW BRITISH over-17 tumbling champion Julie Cheung has been invited to join the national senior squad and will train full-time with them from this summer.
She was one of two Basingstoke gymnasts who won medals at the recent British championships at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham. Cheung won gold and Andover Salto clubmate Tom Owens won the under-17 silver medal.
Both had to increase the difficulty of their programmes after it was pointed out in warm-up that they had not fulfilled all the required elements.
Cheung admitted she hadn't read the small print on the back of the entry form but a conference with her coach Alan Lavelle quickly led to programme changes.
The adjustments didn't affect her standard, in the eyes of the judges, and she led the championships throughout.
"It went very well," she said modestly.
Already on the lottery-funded world-class potential programme, she will join the British squad at Lilleshall in July when she will be one of only two girl tumblers training full-time.
"I was a bit apprehensive at first but now I'm quite looking forward to it," she said.
The first-year student at Queen Mary's College says the extra training will mean she will drop one of the A-levels she is now studying when she starts at nearby Lew College next September.
Since swapping from artistic gymnastics to tumbling last summer, 17-year-old Cheung has made remarkable progress.
She was seventh in the British tournament last November in Nottingham before becoming southern region champion.
She finished fifth in the Belgian Open last month, her first international competition.
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