SOUTHAMPTON gymnast Jenna Sanders is one step closer to her life-long ambition of competing for Great Britain in an Olympic Games.
This weekend the gifted 15-year-old from Rownhams gets her foot on to the vital first rung of the international ladder when she represents GB juniors against Spain in Valencia.
Sanders, a student at Romsey's Mountbatten School, started as a pre-school gymnast in the Gymtots class at the Dynamo School of Gymnastics in Hedge End.
The Spanish competition is one of three being used to select the team for the European Youth Olympic Day to be held in Denmark this October.
With only three places available to face the cream of Europe's juniors, competition for Denmark will be tough. The selected gymnasts must achieve a high level on all four pieces of apparatus - vault, bars, balance beam and floor - because, with all scores counting towards the team result, there will be no room for error.
"Jenna was called to Lilleshall two weeks ago after her performance in the British team championships," explained Dynamo's director of coaching Debbie Hampton. "She is one of four very good junior girl gymnasts and the selection for the European Youth Olympics will be tight."
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