Rebecca Downie is dreaming of an Olympic medal in Rio after winning European gold on the uneven bars. Younger sister Ellie Downie made it a family affair at the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, to cap a successful week for the Brits with silvers on the floor and vault.
The elder Downie, 24, beat Russian world champion Daria Spiridonova by 0.034 points with a score of 15.5, to fill her with confidence ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“I’m so pleased, not only to win the European title but to also put out my more difficult routine – it feel’s amazing,” said the Nottingham gymnast.
“I’ve been working on this routine for about a year now and really wanted to show people what I could do in a major championships.
“I made the decision to go for it in this final and it’s paid off, I need to do routines like that if I’m to reach my ultimate goal – if selected for Rio – of an Olympic medal.”
Teenager Ellie, scored 15.066 and 14.800 from her two efforts on the vault to average 14.933, just 0.050 behind home favourite Giulia Steingruber.
On the floor she scored 14.566 to again take silver behind Steingruber, her third of the competition after Great Britain took second in the team event on Saturday.
“I’m so pleased with both medals today,” said the 16-year-old.
“On the vault I couldn’t have done any better, I qualified in second and kept that place so really happy.
“Floor was definitely more unexpected, it was the last routine of the whole championships so I just went for it.
“It’s been an emotional day, seeing Becky win the title made me burst into tears.”
Elsewhere the younger Downie’s silver-winning performance pushed teammate Claudia Fragapane down to fourth in the floor, 0.166 behind bronze with a score of 14.300.
Fragapane, 18, also finished fifth in the vault final with an average score of 14.549 with the elder Downie finishing sixth on the beam with 14.066 while Gabrielle Jupp claimed seventh on the uneven bars with 13.400.
Sportsbeat 2016