Gravesend’s Georgia-Mae Fenton gets nod to represent Team GB at Paris Olympics while Maidstone’s James Hall and former Pegasus Gymnastics Club team-mate Courtney Tulloch named as reserves

Gravesend gymnast Georgia-Mae Fenton says her dreams have come true after winning selection for the Olympic Games this summer.

Fenton joins Alice Kinsella, Becky Downie, Ruby Evans and Abi Martin on the plane to Paris after Team GB’s men’s and women’s squads for the Games, which take place from July 26-August 11, were confirmed.

A travelling reserve for Tokyo 2021, Fenton has been a mainstay of the women’s team since 2022, winning multiple team medals at both Worlds and European level. Earlier this year she won her first-ever European individual medal with uneven bars bronze in Rimini.

“Seven-year-old me would be so proud,” she said in a post on Instagram. “I watched the Olympics for the first time in 2008 and was truly inspired and in awe of the athleticism of all the gymnasts.

“This event sparked my dream to be a gymnast myself and [I] also hoped to compete in the Olympic Games. I never truly thought I would be able to achieve this dream!

“I have achieved great things with this team and I can’t wait to go out there on the biggest stage and experience the Olympics for the first time.”

While there is elation for Fenton, there is no place in the men’s team for Maidstone’s James Hall - who made the Tokyo pick - and his former Pegasus Gymnastics Club teammate Courtney Tulloch.

Instead they are on standby as cover for Matt Whitlock, Joe Fraser, Jake Jarman, Harry Hepworth and Luke Whitehouse.

“This one really hurts,” Tulloch said in a post on X. “I gave everything to this [Olympic] cycle - every competition, every medal.

“I have been part of every major competition for the last four years, but I won’t get to compete on the biggest stage of all.

“Devastated doesn’t cut it.”