Hannah Whelan
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Hannah Kate Whelan (born 1 July 1992) 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, ...
artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
who competed at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Whelan won three European Championships medals and four British senior national titles, and was the bronze medallist in the all-around at the
2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
.


Early life and training

Whelan, the daughter of Mike and Karen Whelan, was born on 1 July 1992 in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, where she lived until she was two years old. Her family then moved to
Stockport, England Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...
. It was there that Whelan began gymnastics. She said: "At the age of six, after constantly cartwheeling around the house and Tesco, I persuaded my mum to take me to a gymnastic class. There, I was immediately spotted as a talent and began training at South Manchester Gymnastics Club with coach Helen Hall." A year later, when Whelan was seven, her family moved to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where she trained at Flips Gymnastics Academy in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. In 2001, at the age of nine, she moved back to Stockport with her family and resumed training with Hall, this time at Vernon Park Gymnastics Club. In 2005, Whelan switched gyms and began training under Sarah Attwell at the City of Liverpool Gymnastics Club, alongside
Beth Tweddle Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired British artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Cham ...
. "Beth always helped me in the gym," she said. "Just the little comments help to pick you up if things are going wrong. She has the experience and she has had bad days in the gym, but it's good to know that she's gotten where she has by living through the same things that you are." After 2008, Whelan began training under
Amanda Reddin Amanda Jayne Reddin OBE (born 6 June 1965), née Harrison, later Kirby, is a gymnastics coach, and former Olympic gymnast, for Great Britain. Personal coach of many successful gymnasts, including three-time world champion and Olympic medallist B ...
. Whelan attended
Bramhall High School Bramhall High School is a larger than average, nine form entry, comprehensive high school for 11 to 16 year olds in Bramhall, Stockport, England. The school is a teacher training school in connection with Manchester Metropolitan University i ...
but missed much of her final year due to training. Despite this, she passed eight
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
exams, receiving seven B's and one C. She is currently studying sports development at
Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...
.


Senior career


2008

Whelan made her senior international debut at a
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
event in
Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, in March 2008. She placed eighth on
balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...
, scoring 13.000, and eighth on
floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...
, scoring 13.050. In June, she placed third in the all-around competition at the British Championships in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
with a total score of 56.100. In August, Whelan competed at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. She contributed scores of 14.325 on balance beam and 14.125 on floor toward the British team's ninth-place finish.


2009

At the 2009 European Championships in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in March, Whelan placed seventeenth in the all-around final with a score of 54.325. In May, she scored 56.400 at the British Teams competition in Guildford, helping her club, City of Liverpool, win first place. In July, Whelan competed at the British Championships in Guildford. She placed fifth in the all-around with a score of 52.150, second on balance beam (14.300), and fourth on floor (13.350). Two months later, she had surgery on her wrist.


2010

In June, Whelan competed at the World Cup in
Porto, Portugal Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
. She placed third on floor with a score of 13.400. The following month, she became the national champion with a score of 57.800 at the British Championships in Guildford. "I didn't have any aims or expectations coming into the competition, so to then go out and win is just incredible," she said afterward. "I've had injury problems, so to then return and become British champion is fantastic." In event finals, she placed third on
uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
(13.800), second on balance beam (14.100), and third on floor (13.750). In October, she competed at the 2010 World Championships in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, where she contributed scores of 13.900 on uneven bars, 14.133 on balance beam, and 14.066 on floor toward the British team's seventh-place finish. She placed sixteenth in the all-around final with a score of 55.499.


2011

Whelan placed eighth at the
American Cup The American Cup (also known as the American Football Association Cup and the American Federation Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually dec ...
in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
, in March, with a score of 52.532. In April, she competed at the 2011 European Championships in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. She placed thirteenth in the all-around final, scoring 54.175, and eighth in the balance beam final, scoring 11.950 after falling twice. Later that month, she placed fifth in the all-around at the World Cup in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
with a score of 52.132. And at the British Teams competition in Guildford in May, Whelan helped her club, City of Liverpool, win first place with an all-around score of 56.850. In July, Whelan won her second consecutive national title at the British Championships 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 ...
, posting an all-around total of 56.350. In event finals, she placed second on uneven bars (13.900), second on balance beam (14.500), and fourth on floor (14.150). In the team final at the 2011 World Championships in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Whelan scored 55.665 and Britain finished fifth, qualifying a full team to the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In the all-around final, Whelan placed ninth with a score of 56.124.


2012

In March, Whelan competed at a World Cup event in Doha, placing sixth on balance beam with a score of 13.425. At the 2012 European Championships in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in May, she contributed an all-around score of 55.498 toward the British team's fourth-place finish. In event finals, she placed third on balance beam, scoring 14.333, and third on floor, scoring 14.533. In June, Whelan competed at the British Championships in Liverpool. She placed third in the all-around with a score of 55.800. In event finals, she placed fourth on uneven bars (14.250), second on balance beam (13.850), and third on floor (13.900). The following month, she was selected to compete for the United Kingdom at the Olympics in
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 ...
, alongside
Imogen Cairns Imogen Jayne Cairns (born 26 January 1989) is a British former artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Representing England, Cairns was a three-time Commonwealth Games champion in vault, twice, and in floor exercis ...
,
Jennifer Pinches Jennifer McIlveen (née Pinches) (born 25 May 1994) is a retired artistic gymnast who competed for Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and subsequently for the UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team in the NCAA. In 2020, Pinches em ...
,
Rebecca Tunney Rebecca Tunney (born 26 October 1996) is a retired British artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Personal information Tunney took ballet from a young age but gave it up at five years old to focus on gymnastics. She moved t ...
, and
Beth Tweddle Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired British artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Cham ...
. At the Olympics, Whelan qualified to the all-around final in seventeenth place with a score of 55.699. In the team final, she contributed scores of 14.000 on uneven bars, 13.866 on balance beam, and 14.200 on floor toward the British team's sixth-place finish. In the all-around final, she landed her
vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...
on her knees, meaning she received a score of zero and finished in last place.


2014

In July, Whelan competed at the
2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
in Glasgow. She contributed an all-around score of 53.366 toward England's team gold and qualified fifth into the all-around final, where she won bronze, scoring 54.699. Her teammates
Claudia Fragapane Claudia Fragapane (born 24 October 1997) is a British artistic gymnast. She came to prominence at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she was the first English woman to win four gold medals in a single Games since 1930. In 2015, Fragapane was pa ...
and
Ruby Harrold Ruby Esther Harrold (born 4 June 1996) is a British artistic gymnast who was a member of the British Olympic team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Harrold was also a reserve athlete for the 2012 Summer Olympics team. ...
won gold and silver, respectively, for an all-English podium.


References


External links

* * *
Hannah Whelan
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:Whelan, Hannah 1992 births Living people British female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Great Britain People from Singapore Sportspeople from Stockport Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics People associated with Liverpool John Moores University Gymnasts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games People educated at Bramhall High School Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games