Becky Downie and Britain’s women’s gymnasts kick off their campaign to become Paris Olympic box office hits.
The Nottingham star, 32, combined with Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Ruby Evans and Abi Martin to put themselves in a strong position to qualify for Tuesday’s final.
Watched on by Hollywood and musical royalty alike, with Tom Cruise, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg in the Bercy Arena crowd, Downie, delivered a dazzling display on the uneven bars to keep herself in contention of emulating her stunning World Championship silver on the individual apparatus in 2019.
And Downie was revelling in the famous faces as she qualified seventh for the uneven bars final on Saturday afternoon.
She said: “It’s pretty cool – my brother is going to be really jealous too, he loves Lady Gaga.
“I'm going to tell him that he's going to be thrilled!
“The team final was a big goal for our team coming in here.
“There’s lots to improve on - but I think it's going to be a really exciting day.
Team qualification secured for Ruby Evans, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Abi Martin, Becky Downie and Alice Kinsella ❤️#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/JMMVGbjUTu
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 28, 2024
“For me especially, I know it's going to be an emotional day.
“You couldn't write the script so it's going to be a big day.”
Team GB toppled Romania in Sunday morning’s opening session and are now set to compete for a medal in Tuesday’s hotly-anticipated final.
To do so they will have to battle it out with the formidable USA, with four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles back firing on all cylinders after her Tokyo turmoil three years ago.
Biles suffered from the ‘twisties’ - a psychological phenomenon causing a gymnast to lose air awareness while performing twisting elements – in the Japanese capital but was firmly back to her best with a dazzling qualification display on Sunday.
And speaking of the influence of the remarkable 23-time world champion, Downie added: “We probably won't see anyone like Simone again for a very long time.
“I think it's really exciting to watch her support the sport and bring it further into the public eye.”
Sportsbeat 2024