Gymnast defies medical opinion

A gymnast who was told she would not compete again after an operation to correct a curvature of the spine has confounded the medics by winning her fourth national gymnastics title.

Stacie Ridley, 24, of Little John Close, Ollerton, won the physical disability category at the British Championships in Poole, Dorset, to make it four titles in four years.

Miss Ridley, who was a keen junior gymnast and trained 25 hours a week, was 16 when she was told by doctors she was unlikely to compete again after undergoing an operation on a severe curve in her spine caused by the condition, scoliosis.

However, she has since gone on to establish herself as a top disabled gymnast and has been selected in the Great Britain squad for Gymnastics and Movement for People with Disabilities.

She said: “Being told I wouldn’t be able to continue gymnastics was difficult as I had been a gymnast from a young age.

“I did not really know what to do with myself and did not know where to go from there. I think my main source of determination comes from knowing I shouldn’t be able to do any of this and it pushes me to work harder and achieve even more.”

Miss Ridley said she missed gymnastics so much that she started to look into being a coach, and it was then that she realised that she was still able to do a wide range of gymnastic events.

She enquired about joining clubs but found they did not know how to deal with someone who had her condition, so she started to train herself.

She won her first two national titles on the back of her own training regime. She was 21 when she won the first title.

“I am really pleased with the way everything is going,” she said.

“You hear about people who have had back surgery and they think they can’t do things, but my experience shows you can.”

Miss Ridley can do floor pieces and twisting somersaults in her routines, although she can’t do bridges because they put too much strain on her back.

She is now a coach and gymnast at Apex Gymnastics Club, Gainsborough.

She would like to see disabled gymnastics included in future Paralympic Games and is working to raise the profile of the sport.

She has a channel on YouTube, Sridley09, where her competition videos and her story can be viewed.