A GYMNAST from Droitwich spoke of her pride after representing Great Britain at the Masters Adult Gymnastics World Cup in Germany.
Felicity Harper competed in the adult open individual competition and also on bars in the team event in Leipzig.
She placed sixth in the individual competition while Britain finished fourth in the team event overall.
Harper also led out the Great Britain team at the World Cup.
And the 60-year-old felt a sense of pride after representing her country on the international stage.
Harper said: “It was quite nerve-wracking. The individual competition was fine because you’re just doing it for yourself. Doing the team event was quite nerve-wracking and a bit stressful because your score counts towards the overall result.
“I got to come on with the Great Britain banner, which was great. They did it in height order and I was the smallest so I got to carry it which was the icing on the cake. It was a proud moment.
“I thought my bars routine went really well – I didn’t fall off. When I was practising, I was doing a slightly more difficult move than what I actually did.
“I’m glad I didn’t try the other move because I might have fallen off. My routine in the individual competition didn’t go so well though.
“I couldn’t get up on the bottom bar for a start. The bars I trained on are just slightly lower. But the team event went fine which was a real relief.
“I haven’t really done anything where I’ve represented a team before in this way. It was a new experience and I felt very proud once I had done it all.”
Harper also praised the friendly nature of the competition and the organisation of the event.
She also took inspiration from routines completed by athletes from other countries including some by gymnasts over the age of 70 years old.
Harper added: “The individual events took place in a massive trade fair venue, I’ve never been anywhere so big. There were loads of arenas set up as gyms. There were loads of gymnasts.
“We got a shoutout from the BBC commentator Craig Heap because he was covering the European Championships in Leipzig which was nice.
“Travel on the trams was free if you were participating. It was all very much geared up to it. I was massively impressed by the size of the whole thing.
“The other teams were all really friendly – people were sharing gifts at the end.
“I was really impressed by some of the older ladies who were over 70 years old from Japan and Germany. It was unbelievable and inspiring. They were doing better stuff than I could do. There’s still hope.”
