Claudia Fragapane exclusive interview... on fighting back from injury, Strictly and life beyond gymnastics

When Claudia Fragapane was called up to the Great Britain squad last month she did little in the way of celebration. Though she had been working towards this moment for months, she could only see a sad irony in taking the place of injured team-mate Kelly Sims. After all, her own season came to an abrupt halt at a similar moment to Sims' last March, when she tore her Achilles tendon in training.  

"It was sad because when I got the call to say I was in the team I really felt for Kelly, I couldn’t be really happy because she’s such a good friend of mine," Fragapane says. "It did break my heart to take her place but she wished me the best of luck. We try and chat as much as we can to keep her in the loop because I know what she feels like."

On Wednesday, Fragapane will begin competing in the European Championships in Szczecin, Poland. But just over a year ago she heard a snap in her Achilles which shattered any hopes of reliving the historic four-time Commonwealth champion success she enjoyed in 2014 at the Gold Coast last April.

"I’d never been to Australia, I was so excited. Then the whole year got wrote off. Trying to get over that and pick myself up was really hard.

"I had a lot of rehab. It was crazy, I was in the gym more than I was in training for competitions. But I tried to see the positive side to make it fun."

With her naturally upbeat temperament, Fragapane turned to social media to reinforce the positive energy she was already receiving from her coaches, doctors and family. The 21 year-old chronicled much of her recovery - from hospital bed, to splits in a boot brace and back onto the trampolines in the gym - to her 104,000 followers on Instagram. 

She kept her sense of humour throughout, comparing herself to a seal during abdominal workouts where she was confined to lying flat on her front and breaking into goofy happy dances after finally completing the tumbles she is known for on the floor. In a world often germinated by trolling, Fragapane said the responses she received online were a huge help. 

"I try and post things that are going to make people feel good about themselves. I know sometimes people post things that are just not really real but I try to keep mine as real as I can.

"Every time I posted something people said, 'Keep going, I’m really proud of you, you’re such an inspiration'. That pushed me on."

Despite the busy rehab schedule, Fragapane also found the time to complete two coaching levels last year ("I used the time to grow in a different way"), but insists she sees coaching as a back-up plan to a post-gymnastics career in entertainment. Inspired by her fourth-place finish on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, last year the Bristol-born gymnast made her second foray into television on ITV's dating programme Take Me Out.

"Take Me Out was very scary. I said to the producers before, 'Is it too late to run away?' I just thought I’ll have a crack at it, I wanted to build my confidence up more, and having 30 guys staring at you is very daunting. 

"Hopefully I'll go into TV work or into pantomime, something to do with dancing or shows. I feel like I’d really enjoy it. I’ve been doing gym since I was six years old so having a change is nice sometimes."

What she does not know is when that will be. She is looking ahead to Tokyo and beyond, but due to her new perspective post-injury she insists she is just savouring every opportunity to compete. 

"At first it was a bit overwhelming [joining up with team GB]. It’s been such a tough year and to be doing the same tumbles I was at Worlds in 2017, it feels amazing. It’s a bonus just being here."

The 4ft 6in floor specialist only returned to tumbling on hard surfaces this January, but her suggestion that she is in the kind of form she was in at the World Championships a year and a half ago is promising. Then she became only the second British woman to win an individual medal at the global competition with her bronze in the floor, and you get the impression this week might not simply be about taking part.