Reiss Beckford (born 17 February 1992) is a Jamaican gymnast. Prior to 2015, Beckford, from Enfield,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, competed for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. In October 2010 he was part of the team which won the silver medal for

in the gymnastics in the men's artistic all-around team event at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

. He also won the silver medal in the men's individual all-around event and a silver medal in the men's floor event at the same games. Born in England with a Jamaican father, Beckford announced his decision to switch allegiance to Jamaica, a move considered likely to increase his chances of qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Beckford competed at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow. He and his two teammates were the first Jamaican men to do this. He did not qualify to any finals but placed high enough to qualify a Jamaican man to the Rio Test Event in April 2016 to try to qualify to the Olympic Games. However Beckford was unable to take this place at the qualifying event himself because the rules state a gymnast must not have competed for another country in the past three years. Beckford last represented Great Britain in 2014. This meant he missed out on the Rio Olympic Games but could still be the first Jamaican male gymnast to compete at an Olympics if he qualifies to Tokyo 2020.

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Reiss Beckford
at

British Gymnastics British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA), is the sports governing body for gymnastics and Trampolining in the UK. History It was founded in 1888 as the Amateur Gymnastics and Fencing Association. Gy ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckford, Reiss 1992 births Living people English male artistic gymnasts Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Gymnasts at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Gymnasts from London Sportspeople from Enfield, London Gymnasts at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Jamaica Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games English people of Jamaican descent Black British sportsmen Jamaican artistic gymnasts Jamaican sportsmen Citizens of Jamaica through descent

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