Sheffield former child gymnastics star wins gold aged 44

A 44-year-old mother-of-two who returned to competitive gymnastics after 25 years has been crowned a British champion.

Suzy Kerfoot, of Sheffield, left the sport aged 15 but "the smell of the apparatus" inspired her again after she started taking her daughters to a club.

She won gold in the intermediate category at the Adult Gymnastics British Championships on 6 August.

Suzy said: "All the familiar feelings came back and it was so emotional."

Suzy was the under-15 Kent champion, but now trains at High Green Gymnastics Academy in Sheffield after moving to the area 19 years ago.

She competed in four disciplines at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire - beam, floor, bars and vault - and won overall on three of them with moves including somersaults and backflips.

Suzy Kerfoot took home gold in the Adult Gymnastics British Championships 2023 Over 45 category

Suzy, a beauty therapist, told the BBC: "I had to really channel my mind, returning to gymnastics has been both a fairy tale and really hard.

"But when I won I felt so proud of myself."

She added: "But I still get nervous because I know what can go wrong. Being older, any injuries can be more damaging.

"I'm self employed so if I broke my arm I couldn't work."

The mum-of-two performed on the beam, floor, bars and vault

This is Suzy's fourth competition as an older gymnast. She previously came third twice in the over-30s category.

She said: "I thought I had peaked then. So I never dared dream I would be a British champion.

"When I started training again five years ago my coach realised I could still do the moves and it just went from there."

Suzy's older sister Jackie Brady is also a former gymnastics champion.

She was the team captain at the British Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1994 and retired soon after.

Suzy still wears her old leotard for luck and said Jackie, 47, was "really proud of her".