Claudia Fragapane: British gymnast and five-time Commonwealth Games champion retires aged 26

Claudia FragapaneImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Fragapane won gold in vault, all-around, floor and team events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Britain's five-time Commonwealth Games champion Claudia Fragapane has retired from gymnastics aged 26.

"It feels like the right time," she told British Gymnastics.

Fragapane won four gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year that same year.

A two-time world bronze medallist, she added a fifth Commonwealth gold to her collection with victory in the team event in Birmingham in 2022.

Fragapane added: "I'm really happy with my career. Gymnastics has been my whole life for as long as I remember, but now I'm ready to flick over a new chapter."

She won team bronze at the 2015 World Championships and floor bronze two years later in Montreal.

Fragapane didn't reach any individual finals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but helped Team GB finish fifth in the team final.

"I started gymnastics at six, and from my first session at Bristol Hawks I said, 'I want to go to the Olympics'," she said. "I don't think I knew how hard that would be at the time.

"Once my heart is set on something, I do everything I can to get there, and I think that's why I know that now is the right time to hang up my leotard from elite gymnastics."

Bristol-born Fragapane says she will continue to work in gymnastics as a coach and run choreography workshops.

"I want to empower gymnasts to handle their nerves and perform with confidence - that's going to be my next focus," she said.

"I'm excited to continue working in the sport that has made me who I am."

British Gymnastics said: "We'd like to congratulate Claudia on an outstanding gymnastics career and thank her for the incredible legacy she leaves behind."

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