Published: Thursday, 2nd July, 2009 5:30am

Springboard to gymnastics glory

HADDINGTON gymnastics sensation Holly Ramage defied recent injury setbacks to claim a treble medal haul at the Scottish Championships.

The gifted 13-year-old was vying for national honours against 12 of Scotland"s most proficient gymnasts and went on to claim gold in the floor section, second in the vault and second equal on the bars.

Ramage (pictured), who began training in the sport aged five, regularly competes in four gymnastic disciplines: vault, floor, bars and beam.

At the recent competition in Perth, she qualifed for the final stages in three of her four natural events - stumbling three times from the beam put paid to her chances of a clean sweep.

But the gutsy teenager is fortunate to be competing at any level having suffered two serious injuries within the last year.

She sustained a pelvic injury at the British School Games last September preventing her from taking part in any robust training for around five months.

And to add insult to injury, barely one month after her recovery she broke an ankle while training.

Fresh from a Tuesday evening coaching session at Lasswade Gymnastics Club, the teenage star told Courier Sport: 'I was really pleased with how I performed at the Scottish Championships because there were a lot of good gymnasts there.

'I managed to get the highest score in the vault which I was happy about.'

And she continued: 'Being out for so long was really annoying because I just wanted to get back into training.

'I was so bored,' she said.

'When I got injured all I was thinking was "this better not be too serious".' It was, and Ramage lost months of valuable training time, making her success at the national championships even more impressive.

Despite being plagued with injury for seven months, the resilient gymnast never contemplated hanging up her leotard.

'I never really considered giving up gymnastics,' admitted the S3 Knox Academy pupil who trains for 20 hours per week.

'I just thought that I had to keep motivated and get back into it as soon as possible.'

With her ankle in plaster, Ramage persisted in her gym work, avoiding leg exercises and concentrating on her horizontal bar skills instead.

And with future Olympic and Commonwealth Games in her sights, Ramage shows all the qualities necessary to compete at the highest level.

Jim Thomson, high performance coach at Lasswade for the last four years, said the county hopeful possesses 'fantastic' potential and could feasibly make the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

'To come back and put in that amount of work and come out with silverware in the Scottish Championships is just phenomenal,' he declared.

'She has fantastic potential. A lot of gymnasts would probably have called it a day after suffering a second injury like that but not Holly and I am delighted with the way she is progressing right now.'

On her hopes of clinching a berth in the British gymnastics squad for the Olympic and Commonwealth Games in 2012 and 2014 he said:

'Given the way Holly has come back from injury, I believe anything is possible for her.'

At 13, Ramage is too young to qualify for a place in next year"s Commonwealth Games in Delhi, but has her sights fixed on Glasgow five years from now.

'It would be great to take part in Glasgow because I would be competing in front of home crowds who would give me a lot of support,' said Ramage, who lives on Station Road.

For now, her most pressing concern will be this weekend"s British Championships in Guildford.

Coach Jim Thomson believes the future of his Haddington prodigy lies in her owns hands and should she continue to progress, a spot in the Commonwealth squad for 2014 is within her grasp.

'We just need to see how it goes this weekend,' he said. 'Five years is a long time in gymnastics but she has every chance of qualifying for Glasgow.'