TWO teenage gymnasts from Canterbury have been called up to represent Great Britain at the 24th European Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Italy next month.

Jo Matcham, 14, and 13-year-old Kezi Gore - who both belong to the City of Canterbury Rhythmic Gymnastics Club - will travel to Turin for the competition from June 5-8.

They make up half of the four-strong GB team with Lynne Hutchison from the City of Bath club and Jade Faulkner from Swindon club Esp-rit.

Matcham, from Wincheap, said: “We compete against them all the time and they are really nice. We get on well. There is no rivalry when we are with the GB team.”

The Canterbury High student is a rope specialist while St Anselms pupil Gore’s expertise lies in the ball discipline.

She won a bronze medal at the LG Rhythmic Gymnastics International in Stoke last month.

The pair have spent a week undergoing extensive training from GB head coach Nadya Alexandrova at the GB training camp at Lilleshall, Shropshire.

They will recieve more training in the west midlands in the run-up to the event after they return from a warm-up tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia, this weekend.

Matcham added: We haven’t set any real targets. We are just looking to get halfway. We will see how we get on.

“The main countries who will be going for medals are Russia, Bulgaria, Belarus and Ukraine.”

Their Canterbury coach Anni Ahmarvaara said: “I am very proud of them. I have had Kezi since she was seven and she has been in the national team for the past few years, but Jo was a late starter.

“She joined when she was about 10 and only got into the Britain team this year.

“Hopefully they can go on and have successful careers.