A gymnast who was hoping to represent Great Britain in the Rio Olympics has had an accident with just two weeks to go.

Giarnni Regini-Moran, 17, of Shuttle Road in Crayford, was shortlisted for the summer games but suffered a leg injury while training last month.

The aspiring Olympian fell off the high bar and now has to wear a brace for 12 weeks, ending any chance he had of competing.

He has already won the Youth Olympics in China and the Europeans in Switzerland and will still travel to Rio on Sunday, August 7, as part of the Ambition programme, offering him an insight into the games.

Giarnni’s mum, Kerri, said: “We have sacrificed so much to be here. We are devastated.”

The Regini-Moran family are determined, to say the least.

In September 2012, they sold their home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, to move to Essex Road in Gravesend to be nearer the Europa Gymnastics Stadium in Crayford. They have now moved even closer.

Both Giarnni and 13-year-old brother Emilio, who is also in Team GB, are coached there. Kerri said: “When he first moved to Europa, we were still living in Suffolk, and Glen, the boys’ dad, had to drive them six times a week so they could maintain their high level of training.

“We realised we had three options: either tell the boys to give up; drive them to training six times a week and have no lives ourselves; or sell our house.

“All my family are from Suffolk and all Glen’s family are there, too, but it’s proving to be worth it.”

This meant uprooting the boys’ three siblings, Carlos, 16, Ellesse, 15, and eight-year-old Rico, who is also a gymnast

The ligament in the back of Giarnni’s knee was damaged but the Team GB physio has been travelling to the Crayford gym to see Giarnni and he has private health care courtesy of the team.

The leg brace is due to be taken off at the end of September and Giarnni must focus on keeping up a high standard of all six of his disciplines – floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar – ready for his next championships.