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Robert Wright: Moortown gymnast tipped as 2016 Olympics hopeful
British Gymnastics has spotted Moortown schoolboy Robert Wright as a possible candidate for the 2016 Olympics.
The body, which is based at Lilleshall Sports Centre in Shropshire, has selected him for the Elite Performance Squad – youngsters who are
part of a long-termstrategy.
Robert, 12, has been given a number of training dates extending up to next April. The next is in October at Lilleshall.
He is thrilled and said: "I'd love to compete in the Olympics and training with national coaches will give me a much better chance."
In May he took part in a national competition in Newcastle and was one of four Leeds boys chosen to
train at Lilleshall.
He started gymnastics at the age of five at Scott Hall Leisure Centre, doing an hour each Saturday morning.
Then he was chosen for extra training with the City of Leeds team which uses facilities at Leeds Carnegie.
He has already competed with the team in Hungary and Switzerland.
He now trains 20 hours a week – four hours on four nights plus another four on Saturdays.
His mother claims it's like having a part-time job! British Gymnastics has written to Allerton Grange High – where Robert is a pupil – asking for their co-operation with his training schedule.
"The programme of training will require a huge level of commitment on the journey towards our ambitious goals for beyond London 2012," a spokesman said. "There will be a number of squads, some of which will fall on a weekday.
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Saturday 19 May 2012
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