We jumped at the chance to catch up with Aberdeen rhythmic gymnast Louise Christie after her remarkable performance at the Commonwealth Games.  

Louise is a Holiday Camp Leader for us at Sport Aberdeen and she trains from our venue Get active @ Beacon as part of Beacon Rhythmic Gymnastics club.

Have a read of our interview with Louise below. ⬇️

Q. You’ve just won Scotland’s first medal in rhythmic gymnastics since 1994, delivering Team Scotland’s best-ever result in the competition with a silver medal success! How does that feel?

It feels so surreal! It still hasn’t sunk in yet and I haven’t stopped watching the video in disbelief of what I’ve achieved. To know I’ve made history in my sport for Scotland means the world to me and hopefully it inspires the future generation and shows them these results are possible. 

Q. How was your overall Commonwealth Games experience in Birmingham?   

My experience at the Commonwealth Games was amazing. The atmosphere in the arena was something that I will remember forever. It was also special to compete at a multi-sport event and be inspired by other incredible and world class athletes in the village. I have learnt so much through my experience in Birmingham and can’t wait to see what’s next in the future. 

Q. What’s next for you now? Are you taking some time to celebrate or are you straight back to training?   

I have already started training again as I am representing Great Britain at a world challenge cup in Romania at the end of the month however, I will have a bit of a break after this to reset and recover before getting back into training to work towards some new goals. 

A moment with one of Louise’s coaches, Amy Stewart…

Q. Louise has made history with her achievement, how did it feel watching her standing on the podium?

Louise standing on that podium made me very emotional, throughout the ceremony I couldn’t hold back the tears! To see the Scotland flag rising up and knowing history had been made was a life changing moment for both of us and very well deserved. I feel everything that happened and all that was achieved at the Commonwealth Games was a long time coming for Scotland.

Q. You’ve done an amazing job as Louise’s coach, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you! I mean it wasn’t an easy journey to get everything right for Louise, with our new code of points coming into play at the beginning of the year as well as many changes being made and new routines etc, but it was all worth it in the end.

You can read more about what inspired Louise to take up rhythmic gymnastics in our previous story here. If you feel that your child(ren) would enjoy the sport, then check out our Gymnastics Aberdeen programme, which operates from various venues across the city.