A Suffolk gymnast has topped off her fantastic year by winning two medals at a European competition.
Halle Hilton from Ipswich competed in the 2022 Northern Europe Gymnastics Championships in Finland and won bronze in the individual all-round event, and gold in the beam.
Miss Hilton, who represents Ireland, said: "It was really good to win those medals.
"It wasn't expected to be honest, which makes it better and it was the last competition of the year so I just wanted to do my best."
After gaining a bronze in the all-round competition, she qualified for individual events in the floor and beam, winning gold in the latter.
This result comes at the end of a busy competition period and long year after she competed at the European Championships in Germany this summer and also the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool.
She said: "That was really good.
"They weren't my best competitions, but it was a really good experience to get back out on the big stage again."
Earlier this year, she competed in the English Championships and won silver on the balance beam in the competition.
With the results this year, she has brought her total medal tally up to 26 podium finishes since 2016.
The 18-year-old first went to a gymnastics lesson when she was just two years old and went on to become a very successful junior gymnast at national and international level.
In order to get to where she is now, Miss Hilton trains five times a week, for up to eight hours a day.
Gymnastics runs in the Hilton family, with her older brother Keenan, also representing Ireland in the sport, and recently became head coach at a newly opened gymnastics centre in Ipswich, East Anglia Gymnastics.
Miss Hilton's dream is to make the 2024 Olympics in Paris to represent her country and will compete in the World Cup early next year in Baku and World Championships to help her achieve that dream.
She said previously: "When I was small, I wanted to make it to the Olympics, and I'm now just doing what the little girl wanted.
"I often say to myself, I haven't come this far to only come this far. I don't give up until I reach my dreams."
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