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Gravesend gymnast Georgia-Mae Fenton will have the chance to add a World Championship medal to her burgeoning collection after overcoming nerves to help Great Britain into the women’s team final.
The 21-year-old arrived in Liverpool looking to end a glittering year on a high, with two Commonwealth golds and a European team silver already under her belt in 2022.
Only reigning champions USA - in search of a record-breaking sixth successive women’s team gold - finished above the hosts in qualifying and Fenton is relishing the opportunity to spring a surprise on Tuesday evening.
“Qualifying was amazing, we did great as a team and I love competing with these girls,” she said.
“As soon as we did podium training it felt different but there was a familiar feeling of being at home, so it’s nice to get out there.
“My heart was beating out of my chest on bars. I was really nervous before I even went out there and as soon as I landed my dismount I was fine.
“Now we want to go and do our normal job, to try and hit our routines the best we can and then see where we get.”
Fenton missed out on individual finals at the M&S Bank Arena, her best finish coming on the bars as she recorded a score of 14.133 to sit 16th.
She was also pleased to continue her improvement on the vault, in which she led off the home team and scored 13.900 following a Stuck Yurchenko 1.5.
“I was really happy with my vault score,” she said. “I didn’t expect or even think I could get a score like that.
“Slowly but surely everything’s coming together. I would have loved to have been on the floor but I am not one of the floor workers, so I have got to work on myself and get a few bigger tumbles before I can do that.”
The World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022 will be one of the largest international sporting events ever to be held in the city. Over 500 gymnasts from more than 70 countries will compete at the M&S Bank Arena from 29 October to 6 November 2022. Tickets are available at www.2022worldgymnastics.com/tickets