Manx gymnast to be games' youngest competitor at 13

Phoebe Christian will compete for team Isle of Man having just turned 13

A Manx gymnast whose 13th birthday falls on the first day of the Island Games will be the youngest athlete of more than 2,000 set to compete in the event.

From 12 and 18 July, Orkney in Scotland will welcome participants from 24 nations from around the world to compete in 12 sports.

Gymnastics by-laws govern that a competitor must be aged 13 on the day of the opening event to be eligible to take part.

Phoebe Christian, who will also be the Isle of Man's water carrier in Saturday's opening ceremony, said it was "pretty cool to have made the team by a few hours".

Phoebe, who took up the sport aged seven, said she was "proud and excited" to be part of the Manx delegation.

Despite feeling nervous ahead of the games, she said she felt comforted by the support she had received from her teammates and coaches.

"I've got the older girls to look up to so that makes me feel more settled," she said.

Gymnastics team manager Helen Duggan said: "If Phoebe's birthday had been one day later she would have missed these games and that would have been it for another two years.

"But as it is we're going to celebrate her birthday there and we're very hopeful for her at the competition."

Team manager Helen Duggan said the team were "proud to be Manx"

Gymnastics has not been selected to feature in the bi-annual multi-sport event since the Gotland games in 2017, at which the Manx squad topped the medals table.

Ms Duggan said even though the 12 gymnasts on the team gained international experience at an inter-island competition in Aland 2023, it was "really special to be back at the Island Games".

Putting in up to 24 hours of training a week in the build-up to the event, the team were "very, very passionate" and had "given up a lot to get there", she said.

Twelve athletes make up the squad set to compete in Orkney

Ms Duggan continued: "This is like their Olympics, this is the highlight, the biggest point of their career. It really is a big deal.

"We're proud to be Manx, we're proud to go the Island Games and proud to represent the Isle of Man."

There are three days of gymnastics competition at the Stromness Academy - a local secondary school - across the week, with the first medals in the discipline up for grabs on Monday.