European silver for Alice Kinsella and GB in team final
Telford gymnast Alice Kinsella and Great Britain colleagues had to settle for silver having missed out on the defence of their European Championship team title.
The GB women’s team claimed their third medal of the event in Italy, but it was the host nation who edged out team gold in the final day of action.
Kinsella’s all-around gold on Thursday was one of two individual medals and the Park Wrekin gymnast, 23, impressed in some of the team final disciplines, but it was not to be for the five-strong GB team.
The British women’s team of Kinsella, Becky Downie, Abigail Martin, Ruby Evans and Georgia-Mae Fenton recorded a finish of 162.16 points but fell just short of Italy’s 164.162.
Team GB’s narrow early advantage from vault was overcome by Italy after the uneven bars. The Italians extended their lead on the beam.
Tokyo bronze medal winner Kinsella, with a score of 13.633 and team-mates Evans and Martin, both European debutants, helped cut the lead with strong performances on the floor but it was not to be enough.
The team came into the event after the news broke of the departure of David Kenwright, the British Gymnastics head coach for women’s artistic gymnastics, who has stepped down just three months before the Paris Olympics.
