Brittany Willoughby, nine, was selected to take part following her recent success in the Yorkshire Tumbling Championships in Barnsley.

Her mother, Mandy, said she was very proud of her daughter, who she said works hard at practicing while keeping her sense of fun.

Brittany, who attends Gildersome Primary School, has been practicing six days a week in both tumbling and in four-piece – a discipline requiring gymnasts to work with a variety of apparatus.

Mandy said: “She is very dedicated but she still goes for fun. I know she has done really really well and I am proud of her.”

Her daughter’s interest in gymnastics started when she was just four and she did so well she was offered a place at the City of Leeds Gymnastics Club when she was six, but Mandy thought it was too soon for Brittany to be studying so intensively.

Now older, Brittany is a member of the club, based in Headingley, for tumbling and to Morley Gymnastics for four piece.