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Team GB star Becky Downie makes an emotional return to the Olympics women’s gymnastics all-around final on Tuesday, which takes place on her late brother’s birthday.
This is the 32-year-old’s third Olympic Games, where she has qualified for the final after suffering early exits at Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016.
It has been an emotional route to Olympic glory for the two-time European bars champion, whose 24-year-old brother passed away a week before her trials for Tokyo 2020.
Downie’s career was then stalled after she missed out on Team GB selection for what was supposed to be her third Olympics. The incident was controversial, and came a year after she and younger sister Ellie spoke out about “cruel”, “ingrained” and “completely normalised” abusive issues in the sport.
While her success this year has galvanised a generation of aspiring gymnasts, with a stunning performance on the uneven bars to qualify for the individual final, the arrival of her brother’s birthday is what will ultimately remain at the forefront of her mind.
“The team final was a big goal for our team coming here, and for me especially I know it’s going to be an emotional day because it falls on my brother’s birthday,” an emotional Downie said after qualifying.
“As I was entering the arena I started tearing up, but they were happy tears. I really wanted to enjoy today. It’s been the hardest three years of my life, and if somebody asked me to do it again I don’t know if I would.
“But I know this is going to be my last Olympics, and to have a moment like today and deliver the routines like I thought I could, it was really special.
“I knew there were a lot of doubters, but there were also people who believed it was still in there, and it was getting me to believe that that was really challenging, after essentially being at the top of the programme for so long and then sliding down to rock bottom.”
Sixteen years after her debut as a teenager at Beijing 2008 and four years since she blew the whistle on welfare issues in the sport, Downie has been selected for a third Olympic Games in Paris.
In 2020, Downie and younger sister Ellie spoke out about “cruel”, “ingrained” and “completely normalised” abusive issues in the sport. The Whyte Review, published in 2022, found systemic evidence of physical and emotional abuse within gymnastics in Britain.
Ellie retired from the sport aged just 23 to prioritise her mental health but for Becky the opportunity has to define her legacy on her own terms.
“I know this is going to be my last Olympics, and to have a moment like today and deliver the routines like I thought I could, it was really special,” she said.
