Rebecca Downie believes Team GB’s gymnasts have even more to come after winning European Championship silver in Bern.
Together with sister Ellie Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Gabby Jupp and Ruby Harrold, matched the medal they won at the 2014 Championship with a final score of 170.312 points.
But for a couple of falls along the way, the elder Dowie sister believes Russia could have been beaten to the gold medal.
“It’s amazing to win the silver medal but there’s also mixed emotions as we know we could have performed even better,” said the 24-year-old, who can now boast six European medals in her own personal collection.
“Coming in to the final we were dreaming of the gold but a few mistakes cost us and that’s something we will learn from.
“Every girl tried their hardest and put everything in to it so there are no regrets.
“The fact there are those mixed emotions show how far we have come. When we won silver in 2014 we were all amazed and delighted.
“It just shows how much we’ve grown as a team and how much our ambitions have developed.”
Harrold, celebrating her 20th birthday, Fragapane and Ellie Downie began with strong performances on the vault, scoring 14.766, 14.733 and 15.100 respectively.
After a clean routine from Jupp on the bars, Harrold could not re-grab the bar on her opening Tkatchev skill and fell; eventually scoring 13.166.
But Rebecca Downie was up next and completed a superb routine, rewarded with high execution scores from the judges for an impressive 15.066.
Team GB were three points behind Russia at the halfway stage and Jupp made an excellent start on the beam. But falls from Fragapane and Rebecca Downie set Team GB back in their quest for gold.
But eye-catching floor routines from Harrold, Ellie Downie and Fragapane cemented silver.
“It is a fantastic achievement and when it sinks in I think we can all be very proud,” said Harrold.
“We have proven again that we can push the best countries in the world.
“To be the second best country in Europe is fantastic and on top of that we know we can give even more, which is a positive and motivation going forward.”
Sportsbeat 2016