Cookridge gymnast Harry Hepworth sets sights on Commonwealth and Olympic glory

EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Cookridge gymnast Harry Hepworth has begun 2022 training with three-time Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock in a bid to claim a spot at this year’s Commonwealth Games and ultimately become Olympic champion himself.
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Hepworth was crowned the all-around champion as well as the champion on rings, vault and pommel at the Under-18 British Gymnastics Championships in Cardiff last year.

At the same event, Hepworth also took home the silver medal in the high bar and floor competitions.

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This followed hot on the heels of the success he enjoyed competing for Great Britain last June at the Virtual Berlin Junior Team Cup where the GB Team won gold, and he also won the individual all around competition.

And to crown a hugely successful year, the Prince Henry’s Grammar School Otley pupil was then invited to join the British Men’s Artistic Gymnastics High Performance Squad and train alongside the likes of Whitlock and Joe Fraser.

Quite a journey then for a young man who had to overcome disease and serious injury to even take part in his sport after being inspired by a gymnastics display at school.

“Basically, there was this guy called Craig Richardson, who did a demonstration at my Primary School,” said Hepworth of how he got into his sport.

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“He could do a back flip; at that time, I just really wanted to learn how to do a back flip, so I went to his club and it all took off from there.

“When I was 11, I started competing against my own team-mates at my own club.”

However, his progress was far from plain sailing as he was diagnosed with Perthes disease [a disorder of the hip in young children] at a young age before suffering a double stress fracture in his spine in 2018 which kept him out of the sport for seven months.

While many would have quit, Hepworth did not.

“I was around five when I got the disease,” Hepworth added. “I couldn’t play sport for three years and then that guy came to our school and did a back flip and I wanted to do it.

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“When I fractured my spine, I was on the GB squad at that point, so I knew I had talent and I didn’t want to waste that talent either, I just spent countless hours in the gym every day when instead I could have been out with my mates.

“I wasn’t going to waste that, there’s no point, I just got on with it.”

Harry’s dad Andrew Hepworth has supported his son throughout his short career, taking him all over the country to compete in the sport he loves but, sometimes, even he could not get a ticket to see him perform.

“I couldn’t get a ticket [for the British Championships] so I sat in the hotel watching the scoring app,” said Andrew.

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“Harry seemed to be close to the top all the time so I headed to the arena and decided to try and go in.

“The competition had finished, and they announced that Harry was all round champion as well as becoming champion on rings, pommel and vault.

“It was a great way to finish off the year and a truly amazing performance.”

With the Commonwealth Games next on the horizon in Birmingham this summer, Hepworth knows he will have to work flat out to make the team – but training with champions such as Whitlock means he will not be lacking any motivation.

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“There’s a chance of me being part of the Commonwealth Games squad,” he added. “If I nail my routines I can definitely get there if I put in the hard work and the graft.

“I want to be the Olympic ring champion, that’s my biggest goal and my dream. I really want to get to the Olympics or even the World Championships – they’re both good; the rings are what I specialise in.”

Team GB Gymnastics had a good Olympics in Tokyo last year, winning a gold and bronze medal in two events, and the future certainly looks bright with young stars such as Hepworth on the rise. 

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