Dan Purvis thrilled by Scottish gymnastics success at Commonwealth Games

Former Scotland gymnastics captain Dan Purvis has said he was thrilled to see his old teammates excel at the Commonwealth Games.

Shannon Archer of Uphall claimed Scotland’s first ever individual women’s Commonwealth artistic gymnastics medal when she took bronze in the vault and Aberdeen’s Louise Christie took silver to secure the country’s first rhythmic gymnastics medal since 1994.

Purvis said: “I have watched Shannon for many years climbing the ladder and working hard and after the Gold Coast (in 2018) she moved to South Essex (Gymnastics club) and she has worked so hard to improve.

“To see her win her first ever major medal of her career was amazing. She is a huge inspiration and her huge achievement will give confidence to the young gymnasts coming through.”

Purvis won five Commonwealth medals for Scotland, including one gold in Glasgow 2014 and two medals in the team events.

Some of his teammates from Gold Coast, David Weir, Hamish Carter and Frank Baines, who also competed alongside him in 2014, were part of the Scotland team that finished fifth this time.

“To see Frank still in the team and putting in a great performance was amazing, along with David Weir and Hamish Carter, guys I competed alongside,” Purvis said. “They put on a great performance and finished just outside the medals.”

Purvis is now looking forward to the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships at his native Liverpool on October 29 to November 6 and would love to see some Scots qualify.

“It’s a tight selection for both men and women,” he said. “It’s credit to Great Britain that it’s such a hard team to get into.

“That’s because we are up with the top four of five teams in the world. When I was younger, we were down around 15-16th. It’s been a long time coming for British gymnastics and a lot of people have put an awful lot of work into it. It’s an honour to be on the team.

“I’d love to see Shannon push her way into the team. It could be a difficult task.”