Northern Ireland dentist wins gold in gymnastics
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- Published: Monday, 21 August 2017 07:59
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A Northern Ireland dentist has been crowned a British gymnastics champion in her very first tournament at the age of 44. Ursula Goode was adjudged the best competitor in the over-40s novice section at the championships at the National Sports Centre in Lilleshall near Birmingham, the home of British gymnastics.
Ursula, who runs a dental surgery in Coleraine with her triathlete husband Ben, only regarded gymnastics as a hobby until a coach at her club in the town urged her to take the sport more seriously. She said: "Mary (Robinson) suggested that I should enter the British championships and I thought she was completely mad. I had only been going to the Sika club in Coleraine one night a week with the intention of keeping my fitness levels up. I had done recreational gymnastics for a few years in my teens but I never competed at any real level because I had come to the sport too late. However, when I thought about what Mary said about the British championships, I eventually decided to go for it, though winning medals was never really on my mind."
At Lilleshall, the competition was fierce as Ursula did battle with competitors from across the UK in the four gymnastics disciplines - on the bars, the beams, on the floor and the vault. Ursula surprised even herself with her achievements during the five hours of competition. She added: "It was all new to me. I had never taken part in a competition before."
And after completing her disciplines Ursula had to wait an hour-and-a-half before she was declared the winner. She said: "We were marched into the stadium to hear the results. And after the names of the winners of the silver and bronze medals were read out, I thought 'oh well, at least I gave it my best shot.' I knew I hadn't let myself down. The announcer said that I was the gold medal winner and I was flabbergasted but totally and utterly delighted."
After the medal ceremony, Ursula phoned her children back home in Portrush to tell them their mum was a British champion. The kids, Oliver (7), Grace (9), Beth (12) and Lily (14), were ecstatic.
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