Earlier this year, artistic gymnast Ellie Lewis competed at the British Championships at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, where she became the junior All-Around Silver medallist and Uneven Bars Bronze medallist, and at last year’s British Championships, she won Bronze in the All-Around and on Floor and became junior British champion on the Uneven Bars. In February, at the Welsh Championships, Ellie became junior Welsh champion in the All-Around and on Uneven Bars and Vault, and at the 2023 Belgium TopGym competition, Ellie, alongside her British teammates, came away with the Silver medal. During her first year as a junior gymnast, Ellie competed alongside the senior gymnasts at her gymnastics club Clwb Cymru Caerdydd – Mali Morgan, Evie Flage-Donovan, Poppy-Grace Stickler and Ruby Evans at the Artistic British Team Championships in October, where they came away as champions, becoming the first Welsh club to receive the senior Gold medal since 1983. Having picked up a hamstring injury at one of the first training sessions in Slovenia at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival representing Team GB, Ellie qualified for the Uneven Bars final and won Bronze in the Team event with Jemima Taylor and Ema Kandalova. Ellie has just competed at the Junior European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rimini, and having picked up another injury which kept her out of the All-Around event, she made the Uneven Bars final, and she will be competing as a senior gymnast next year and is hoping to represent Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 2026. Answering our questions, Ellie chatted to us about competing at the British Championships earlier this year, becoming the junior Welsh champion for All-Around, Uneven Bars and Vault in February and representing Team GB at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival.

What was it like competing at this year’s British Championships at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, which saw you come away with the Silver medal in the junior All-Around and Bronze on Uneven Bars?

It’s always amazing competing at the M&S Arena. It’s such a great venue and the whole atmosphere is always so positive and enjoyable. Coming away with podium positions is an incredible feeling, and being up there with so many talented gymnasts makes you feel proud of all the hard work that goes into putting out routines.

You became junior British champion last year on the Uneven Bars, and also won Bronze in the All-Around and on Floor, how did this feel?

First year junior at British Championships was amazing, I was so proud to have placed podium All-Around on the first day, but to then take Bars champion and bronze on Floor in finals was just unbelievable.

What did you enjoy most about competing at the Welsh Championships in February and how was it becoming the junior Welsh All-Around, Uneven Bars and Vault champion?

I always love competing at home. The Welsh Championships this year was such a great, well-organised event, and it was amazing to see so many more gymnasts entering. To take the Welsh All-Around title, Bars and Vault titles was a great feeling in a home environment.

Can you tell us about your time in Belgium last year for the TopGym competition, where you won Silver with the rest of the British team?

Belgium was a brilliant experience, it was so good to meet and mix with the other countries and compete in a slightly different format. The whole GB team were lovely and it was brilliant to be part of such a good, supportive environment.

In October, you won Gold at the Artistic British Team Championships with your Clwb Cymru Caerdydd teammates Mali Morgan, Evie Flage-Donovan, Poppy-Grace Stickler and Ruby Evans, what was it like being part of the first Welsh club to win the women’s senior title since 1983?

British Teams was another amazing experience. To be part of the team with the seniors was such an honour, and being the youngest it was good to have that encouragement to push and help the team the best I could. It was such a privilege to be part of that team and make a bit of Welsh history.

How did you find the experience representing Team GB at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival in Slovenia and how was it finding out you’d been selected for the competition?

Finding out that I had been selected to represent Team GB was surreal as it was a huge goal that I had targeted. When we had the selection email, it took a while for it to sink in and I had to read it over and over.

After unfortunately picking up an injury whilst there, you qualified for the Uneven Bars final and won Bronze in the Team event with Jemima Taylor and Ema Kandalova, what are some of your favourite memories from competing in Slovenia and how was it collecting your Team medal?

My build-up to Euros had been so good. I had my routines in good form and I had mentally prepared myself for the training and travelling and change of competition environment. Picking up a hamstring injury during one of the first training sessions out there was a huge blow. I really felt I didn’t want to let the team down so I made sure to listen to the coaching team and take all the advice from the medical team to ensure I could still try and compete anything that was safe to do. To get be able to do two pieces came with mixed emotions, but then to make Bars final was a huge relief as I felt I had done as good of a job I could for the team.

Being up there on the podium with the girls getting a team medal was unreal – we couldn’t believe it.

So many good memories coming away from the Youth Olympics but the top has to be the whole positive atmosphere from everyone there, mixing with everyone and trying to communicate in different languages, and making so many friends.

How are you finding your time as an elite junior gymnast so far and what are you enjoying most about being part of Team GB and Wales?

Being an elite GB junior so far has had many different emotions and experiences. I have been unlucky with injuries at the wrong times and am currently recovering from an injury that prevented me competing All-Around at the recent European Championships, but hopefully all is going to plan with recovery and I can fully start re-working on some new things.

How did you get into artistic gymnastics and was it something you always wanted to do?

I started gymnastics at around four/five just for fun but it was something I enjoyed and progressed quite quickly with.

Can you tell us about your typical training day at Clwb Cymru Caerdydd and how much has your training changed over the years?

A typical session at Clwb Cymru starts with rolling out and stretching before warm up. We then have our own individual programmes to follow for each day.

Have you been given any advice over your gymnastics career so far that has stuck with you?

A piece of advice that has stuck comes from former Clwb Cymru gymnast Emily Thomas – I remember I was a bit nervous once and she told me “compete how you train” – this stuck mostly because I always try my best in training at everything, so with Emily’s advice it takes the edge off the nerves a little.

Who are some of your favourite gymnasts to watch?

At the moment, my favourite gymnast to watch is Shilese Jones. She has such nice lines on bars and always looks like she’s having fun on the comp floor and would be a great teammate to go around with.

How do you like to spend your free time?

Free time is spent with friends just relaxing and being a normal teenager, or catching up with any schoolwork.

Do you have any competitions coming up that you can tell us about or that you are targeting?

I have just competed at Junior Europeans, and again, that came with a badly timed injury which meant the vault landing was causing issues, but I managed to make Bars final which I was so proud of. We had such a great time and the whole team was amazing.

I’m not entirely sure what is coming up next this year. My focus now is shifting towards being fully fit for the rest of this year, preparing for first year as a senior next year and aiming for trialling for Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games.

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