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"Unshakeable expectation" driving British Gymnastics on Road to Rio

Published 16 October 2014

Following the recent World Championships in China, we spoke to Rachel Bayley, Performance Manager at British Gymnastics, about the depth of talent in the squad and how the sport is building a talent pathway to deliver future success.

This year has seen British gymnasts win ten gold, ten silver and five bronze medals across the World and European Championships – a year of outstanding success. Playing a large part in this has been the breadth and depth of talent available with the emergence of Nile Wilson and Claudia Fragapane adding to an already strong GB squad.

Bayley, appointed from Badminton England to her role with British Gymnastics and charged with leading the implementation and development of a “pathway” for talent, admits 2014 has been fantastic for the squad.

She said: "The success we have had has been brilliant and certainly with the pathway being so new it positions gymnastics as a modern sport that is inspiring for the next generation of gymnastic talent.

"It’s thanks to our network of committed clubs, coaches and a robust system that we are able to achieve such successes. Watching the likes of Nile Wilson and Claudia Fragapane come through into their first World Championships this year has been exceptional. We’re starting to compare success within the squad to previous British successes as well as those succeeding from other countries."

Bayley also believes that the achievements in 2014 are an important part in building a system for the future.

"It’s crucial," she said. "Not just the profile and media aspect that it brings to the sport but there’s now an absolutely unshakeable expectation of standards within the sport in terms of quality, training and perseverance. Those athletes that have followed that path laid down by the Head Coaches and Performance Directors are starting to come through and reap the rewards."

Bayley is also focusing on her own development, and is part of the Performance Pathway Programme (P3) jointly run by UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport, which seeks to accelerate and enhance the everyday knowledge and skills of participants in order to build a stronger, more sustainable sports system in the UK.

The programme sees a host of members of the elite sports community sharing experiences and learning from other experts in the field of talent development.

Natalie Dunman, Head of Performance Pathways at UK Sport said: "These individuals have taken on a fantastic opportunity to learn from other sports and world leading experts, to share their own expertise, and to work towards delivering a stronger, more sustainable high performance pathway in their sport and to the system. The programme will pave the way for the UK to become world leaders in the Talent Identification, Confirmation and Development of elite athletes."

Full list of programme members:

  • Joanna Cook, Head of Pathway Development - British Fencing
  • Rachel Bayley, Performance Manager - British Gymnastics
  • Ed Barney, GB Head of Talent Development - GB and England Hockey
  • James Thomas, Performance Pathway Manager - British Judo
  • Andrew Lewandowski, Head of Talent Management - Lawn Tennis Association
  • Katie Jones, Futures and Talent Manager - Paralympic Athletics
  • Craig Nicholson, Performance Pathway Manager - Paralympic Swimming
  • John Fletcher, National Development Academy Manager - Rugby Football Union
  • Dan Salcedo, Performance Pathway Manager - British Triathlon
  • Mark Nicholls, Youth Racing Manager - British Sailing
  • Dan Wagner, Talent Pathway Manager - British Weightlifting
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