Muscle Fitness Muscle & Fitness UK - April 2018 | Page 115

just weeks away Amy tells me that
her preparations have been going
really well, “I’m really happy with the
way everything has gone. The Games
are quite early in the year so I had to
start working on my routines before
Christmas but I am really happy with
where I am at and how everything
has been going”
When I tried to catch her out and
find out how she thought she might
get on, or whether she would be using
the 2018 Commonwealth Games
to guage her progress towards the
2020 Tokyo Olympics I was met with
the modesty and professionalism
of a seasoned veteran. “I just take
each day as it comes. Obviously the
Commonwealths are a multi-sport
event so in terms of the experience of
being around the Athlete’s village it
is good preparation for Tokyo, but in
terms of performance I honestly just
take each day as it comes”.
She wouldn’t even drop her guard
when I asked if she would have one
eye on the performances of the other
girls to identify any potential threats,
“I try to just focus on myself and do
the best that I can do. Whatever the
result is from that then I will be happy
as long as I have done my best”
As if the most sensible young girl I
have spoken to in many a year couldn’t
get any more sensible she reveals that
she is also studying towards Business
Studies, PE and Psychology for her
A-Levels. She insists that this is not
her having any thoughts about life
after Gymnastics though, “Gymnastics
is my main priority at the moment and
I want to continue competing and can
hopefully stay in the sport for as long
as possible. After that I will see what
happens, Gymnastics has been a huge
part of my life since I was two years
old and I don’t think I can see myself
ever not being involved in the sport”.
For any budding athletes out there
Amy’s advice is simple, “just enjoy it, if
you don’t enjoy it then you aren’t going
to perform at your best, whatever it is
that you do”.
Amy Tinkler has devoted her entire
life to her sport. Her and her family
T I N K L E , T I N K L E , L I T T L E STA R
have moved over 300 miles from one
end of the country to the other and as
a teenage girl she has been ‘working’
50-60 hours a week, as well as keeping
up with her school work, on a quest to
be that little bit better. The sacrifices
made by Amy and her family, in terms
of time, effort and money that has
been spent, are undeniable, but I am
no longer surprised by her mature,
intelligent and sensible responses
to my questions, especially the one
about the sacrifices she has made.
“I absolutely love Gymnastics, but
anything that could be classed as a
sacrifice I don’t really see as a sacrifce.
I think if you see those things as
sacrifices then you probably don’t
love the sport enough. I would give
up anything for Gymnastics and have
given up many things already. But
none of those are sacrifices because
I want to be more devoted to my
Gymnastics than I want any of the
things I am not currently able to
have or do”.
Post-Olympic mania has calmed
down a little bit over the last two
years but Amy is still busy doing
as many club visits as possible and
has moved down to Essex from the
North-East to be able to train at a
world-class facility. She admits that
life will never properly return to
‘normal’ but she is more than happy
with what has become her new
‘normal’ life.
The future looks very bright for
the sport of Gymnastics, and
with such talented, young,
hard-working, modest and
down-to-earth athletes like
Amy then we are sure to see
and hear much more media
coverage and undoubted
successes from the Gymnastics
world in the near future.
Amy will be representing
Team England at the 2018 Gold
Coast Commonwealth Games in
Australia. Tune in on Thursday
5th April to see her and the
rest of the team competing for
medals.
@amytinkler
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