Gym may fix it for Irish hopefuls

Flip through the strategic plan put together by Gymnastics Ireland for the years 2009-2012 and there is no talk of qualifying competitors for Olympic Games, just the vague aspiration to improve international competition results across all disciplines.

Kieran Behan’s qualification for London took everyone by surprise, including the national governing body, but the Surrey-based floor specialist and his coach Demetrios Bradshaw are raising the bar further for Rio de Janeiro in four years’ time.

Behan isn’t the only Irish kid training in the Tolworth gym in South London and the hope is that his groundbreaking appearance in their local Games will inspire others there and at home in Ireland to emulate his achievements.

“Obviously I’m going to keep going until I can’t do it physically any longer. That’s my aim and 2016 as well… hopefully we can get a team through or at least couple of individuals. That will be amazing.

“The would be an absolutely fantastic experience to show that, not only does Ireland have individuals, but they have a team coming through. Hopefully that will feed through to the grass roots of the gymnasts in Ireland.”