Deborah Anne "Debbie" Georgiou (née Southwick, born 11 May 1976) is a retired

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

individual

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

. She won two bronze medals representing England at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

and represented Great Britain at the 1992 Olympic Games.

Career

Southwick was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and started competitive gymnastics at 11 years old, when she went from her local gymnastics club in St Helens to a North West regional squad training session. She was then invited to train in Bedford and was launched onto the British team. At 13 years old, she moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

after

Irina Viner Irina Alexandrovna Viner-Usmanova (russian: Ирина Александровна Винер-Усманова; born July 30, 1948) is an Uzbek-born Russian rhythmic gymnastics coach who is head coach of the Russian national team, president of the ...

, whom for a short period took over the development of the U.K. National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team; saw potential in Southwick and wanted to work with her. Southwick competed for Great Britain in the rhythmic gymnastics all-around competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She was placed 22nd in the qualification round and did not advance to the final. She retired from competitive sport at the age of 18. Southwick is now a successful Jewellery designer. She has designed and hand make orders for built up celebrity clienteles including

Amy Childs Amy Andrea Childs (born 7 June 1990) is an English television personality and model. She appeared in the first two series of the ITV2 reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex'', and subsequently starred in her own reality series '' It's All About ...

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...

Katie Piper Kate Elizabeth Sutton (née Piper; born 12 October 1983) is an English writer, activist, television presenter and model from Andover, Hampshire. In March 2008, she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice, causing major da ...

and

Calum Best Calum Milan Best (born February 6, 1981) is a British-American television personality. He is the only child of footballer George Best. Early life Best was born in San Jose, California, the son of parents from the United Kingdom: Angie Best (bor ...

. She also lends her time as commentator in competitions for the

International Federation of Gymnastics The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people British rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Great Britain Sportspeople from Liverpool Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Gymnasts at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games English rhythmic gymnasts {{UK-sport-bio-stub