Kristof willerton biography of michael

We are delighted to introduce you to Alfie Collier, who with support from the Postal Family Fund, has been able to smash his gymnastic dreams.  We spoke to Alfie’s dad, Marc Collier, about Alfie’s achievements.

Why did you apply for the Rising Stars bursary?

Alfie Collier has been taking part in Gymnastics since the age of 5 years old. He is a member of his local club Newton Abbot Somersaults Gymnastics Club where he trains 12 hours a week over four different days.

At first Alfie took part in the 6 piece gymnastics competitions which comprised of Floor, Vault, High Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel and Rings. He was very successful at this and qualified to be a member of the South West Team which he represented at the National Age Group Finals held in Birmingham on 6 occasions between 2009 and 2014. During this time he achieved a gold, Silver and Bronze medal and was invited to train with the National Coaches at Lilleshall National Sports centre in Birmingham.

In 2014 Alfie made the decision to start taking part in Tumbling as this was a real passion that he enjoyed as part of gymnastics. He would constantly be watching his childhood hero Kristof Willerton, who was a former World Champion, on Youtube picking up tips on how he could improve his own Tumbling.

In 2015 Alfie was crowned National Champion at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. He held this crown for the next 5 years as he moved up through the age groups until 2020 when the Coronavirus stopped all competing for the year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Alfie could not train at his gym so you would find him daily in the front garden training and carrying out his conditioning exercises to keep on top of his fitness.

In 2021, Alfie made it through to the British Championships 17-21 Age group finals at Telford in Birmingham. This would be the biggest stage and competition for him to date. His training though

Great Britain won four medals - including two golds - on the third day of the Trampoline European Championships in Rimini.

The men's tumbling and women's double-mini trampoline (DMT) teams claimed top prize within minutes of each other.

There was more success as the women's tumbling team won silver after being edged out by France in a tight final.

And a young British men's DMT team won bronze behind Spain and Belgium.

Former world champion Kristof Willerton of the men's tumbling team said: "We've come a long way as a team. We've had a lot of ups and downs over the last year to get here.

"We came into the final as underdogs after qualifying, so it was expected we'd have to fight, and for us to go out and hit the best we could do was a great feeling."

Kirsty Way, whose five points secured gold for the women's DMT team, added: "I think that's probably the most nervous I've been in a team final.

"I just knew I had to land it and there was a chance of a gold medal being on our shoulders. The whole team smashed it."

Tumbling Gymnastics discipline

Tumbling, sometimes referred to as power tumbling, is a gymnastics discipline in which participants perform a series of acrobatic skills down a 25 metres (82 ft) long sprung track. Each series, known as a pass, comprises eight elements in which the athlete jumps, twists and flips placing only their hands and feet on the track. Tumblers are judged on the difficulty and form of their routine. There are both individual and team competitions in the sport.

Tumbling can also refer more generally to similar acrobatic skills performed on their own or in other gymnastics events, such as in floor exercises or on the balance beam.

Tumbling is governed by the FIG, the International Federation of Gymnastics, and is included as an event within trampoline gymnastics. Although tumbling is not currently an Olympic event, elite tumblers competing at the international level can compete in various events organised by the FIG, continental confederations as well as at the European Games and World Games.

History

While the origins of tumbling are unknown, ancient records have shown acts of tumbling in many parts of the world including China, India, Japan, Egypt and Iran. Tumbling became part of the educational system of ancient Greece, from which early Romans borrowed the exercise for use in military training. During the Middle Ages, minstrels incorporated tumbling into their performances, and multiple records show tumblers performed for royal courts for entertainment. It is at the end of this period in 1303 that the verb tumble is first attested in this sense in English. There was renewed interest in formalised physical education during the Renaissance, and shortly thereafter gymnastics began to be introduced into some physical education programmes, such as in Prussia as early as 1776.^[7&#