Ondine Achampong (born 10 February 2004) is a British artistic gymnast who was part of the women's team that won silver at the 2022 World Championships. She won a gold medal with the English team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and individually, Achampong won silver medals in the all-around and on floor exercise. She is the 2022 European team and balance beam silver medalist. She is the 2021 British all-around champion and the 2022 British all-around silver medalist.

Ondine Achampong
Personal information
Nickname(s)On, Ons, Onds
Country represented Great Britain
 England
Born (2004-02-10) February 10, 2004 (age 20)
Kings Langley, Hertfordshire
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international elite
Years on national team2018–Present (GBR)
ClubAylesbury Gymnastics Academy
College teamCalifornia Golden Bears
Head coach(es)Joshua Richardson & Molly Richardson
Music"Celloopa" by The Piano Guys
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Liverpool Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich Balance beam
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
FIG Apparatus World Cup 0 1 1
FIG World Challenge Cup 0 0 1
Total 0 1 2
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham All-around
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Floor exercise

As a junior, Achampong is the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival champion on the balance beam and silver medallist in the all-around. She is also the 2019 British junior all-around champion. She won a bronze medal with the British team at the 2018 Junior European Championships.

Early life

edit

Achampong was born in 2004. She has a Horsfield's tortoise named Mishelle.[1]

Junior gymnastics career

edit

Espoir: 2016–17

edit

In March 2016 Achampong competed at the British Team Championships where she placed eleventh in the all-around but recorded the third highest balance beam score and helped her team finish fifth.[2]

In April 2017 she competed at the English Championships where she only competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise and recorded the second highest scores on uneven bars and balance beam.[3] In December she competed at the British Espoir Championships where she placed first in the all-around, on balance beam, and on floor exercise, and placed second on uneven bars.[4]

Junior: 2018

edit

In February Achampong competed at the English Championships where she placed second behind Amelie Morgan.[5] The following month she competed at the British Championships where she placed third in the all-around behind Morgan and Annie Young. During event finals she placed third on uneven bars and floor exercise and sixth on balance beam.[6]

In April Achampong competed at the 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy where she placed fifteenth in the all-around and helped Great Britain finish fourth in the team competition.[7] In July she competed at a friendly competition in Pieve di Soligo where she placed eleventh in the all-around but helped Great Britain win the bronze in the team competition.[8]

In August Achampong represented Great Britain at the European Championships alongside Morgan, Young, Halle Hilton, and Phoebe Jakubczyk. Together they won the bronze medal in the team competition behind Italy and Russia. Individually Achampong finished tenth in the all-around.[9] Achampong ended the season at the Top Gym Tournament where she won gold on balance beam and placed fourth in the all-around and on floor exercise.[10]

Junior: 2019

edit

In February Achampong competed as a guest at the Welsh Championships where she placed first in the all-around and recorded the highest score on each apparatus.[11] In March she competed at the English Championships where she placed first in the all-around ahead of Halle Hilton and Jennifer Gadirova.[12] Later that month she competed at the British Championships where she placed first in the all-around and also won gold on uneven bars and balance beam and placed fourth on vault.[13]

In July Achampong competed at the Sainté Gym Cup where she helped Great Britain win team gold and individually she placed first in the all-around.[14] Later that month she competed at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival alongside Hilton and Young. Together they won bronze in the team competition behind Russia and Romania. Individually Achampong won silver in the all-around behind reigning junior world champion Viktoria Listunova of Russia. During event finals she won gold on balance beam ahead of Silviana Sfiringu of Romania.[15]

Senior gymnastics career

edit
 
Achampong at the 2020 Melbourne World Cup

2020

edit

In 2020 Achampong became a senior. She made her senior debut at the Melbourne World Cup where she qualified to the balance beam and floor exercise finals. During event finals she won silver on balance beam behind Urara Ashikawa of Japan and placed fourth on floor exercise behind American Jade Carey and Italians Vanessa Ferrari and Lara Mori.[16] She later competed at the Baku World Cup; during qualifications she once again qualified to the balance beam and floor exercise event finals.[17] However event finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan.[18]

In June Achampong announced that she had verbally committed to the University of California, Berkeley to compete for their gymnastics program.[19]

2021

edit

In April Achampong was named as an alternate for the European Championships.[20] In May, Achampong competed at the Varna World Challenge Cup, where she qualified to the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise finals. During event finals, she placed third on balance beam behind Anastasiia Bachynska of Ukraine and Marine Boyer of France.

In November Achampong competed at the British Championships and won gold in the all-around, silver on uneven bars, and on balance beam, and bronze on floor exercise.

2022

edit
 
Achampong at the 2022 European Championships

Achampong competed at the English and British Championships where she finished fourth and second in the all-around. In June she was selected to represent England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games alongside Georgia-Mae Fenton, Claudia Fragapane, Alice Kinsella, and Kelly Simm.[21] The group went on to win gold in the team competition while Achampong also took silver in the individual all-around.[22][23]

Achampong was also selected to compete at the European Championships alongside Kinsella, Fenton, and Aylesbury teammates Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova.[24] In August Achampong competed at the European Championships. She contributed scores on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam towards Great Britain's second-place finish.[25] During event finals Achampong won silver on balance beam behind Emma Malewski of Germany.

In September Achampong was named to the team to compete at the 2022 World Championships, once again alongside the Gadirova twins, Kinsella, and Fenton.[26] She finished fifteenth in qualifications but did not advance to the all-around due to teammates Gadirova and Kinsella placing higher. During the team final Achampong competed on vault and balance beam, helping Great Britain win the silver medal and achieve their highest placement at a World Championships.[27]

2023

edit

At the English Championships Achampong placed first in the all-around, on uneven bars, and on floor exercise as well as placing second on balance beam.[28] She then went on to compete the Welsh Championships, where she placed second on balance beam and in the all-around and placed third on uneven bars and floor exercise.[29] At British Championships she placed second all-around and first on balance beam.[30] Achampong was named to the team to compete at the upcoming European Championships alongside Becky Downie, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Jessica Gadirova, and Alice Kinsella.[31] At the European Championships Achampong helped Great Britain win their first team gold medal. Additionally she qualified to the balance beam final.[32]

In September Achampong was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Championships alongside Gadirova, Kinsella, Fenton, and Ruby Evans.[33] While there she helped the team qualify in second to the team final. Individually Achampong qualified to the all-around final. During the team final Achampong contributed scores on vault and balance beam towards Great Britain's sixth place finish.[34] During the all-around final she finished thirteenth.[35]

In November Achampong signed her National Letter of Intent with the California Golden Bears.[36]

2024

edit

Achampong began the year competing at the Cairo World Cup. She finished third on the uneven bars and fourth on balance beam.[37] At the English Championships, she placed first all-around and on the balance beam, as well as second on the uneven bars and floor exercise.[38] At the British Championships she placed first all-around, on the uneven bars, the balance beam, and the floor exercise.[39] Achampong was initially named the team to compete at the European Championships; however she withdrew as a precautionary measure.[40][41] It was later revealed that Achampong had torn her ACL while performing an uneven bars dismount at a controlled competition.[42]

Competitive history

edit
 
Achampong (left) with the balance beam medalists at the 2022 European Championships
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Espoir
2016 British Team Championships 5 11
2017 English Championships    
British Championships        
Junior
2018 English Championships  
British Championships     6  
City of Jesolo Trophy 4 15
Pieve di Soligo Friendly   11
European Championships   10
Top Gym Tournament 4   4
2019 Welsh Championships          
English Championships        
British Championships   4    
Sainté Gym Cup    
European Youth Olympic Festival      
Senior
2020 Melbourne World Cup   4
Baku World Cup 6 6
2021 Varna Challenge Cup 5   5
British Championships        
2022 English Championships 4 10   10
British Championships  
Commonwealth Games     4  
European Championships    
World Championships  
2023 English Championships  
Welsh Championships (guest)  
British Championships   5   8
European Championships   4
World Championships 6 13
2024 Cairo World Cup   4
English Championships        
British Championships        

References

edit
  1. ^ "Ondine Achampong". Gymnastics Express.
  2. ^ "2016 British Team Championships Results". The Gymternet. 20 March 2016.
  3. ^ "2017 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. 7 April 2017.
  4. ^ "2017 British Espoir Championships Results". The Gymternet. 3 December 2017.
  5. ^ "2018 English Championships Results". 11 February 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 12 March 2018.
  7. ^ "2018 City of Jesolo Trophy Results". The Gymternet. 17 April 2018.
  8. ^ "2018 Pieve di Soligo Friendly Results". The Gymternet. 17 July 2018.
  9. ^ "2018 European Championships Results". The Gymternet. 6 August 2018.
  10. ^ "2018 Top Gym Tournament Results". The Gymternet. 1 December 2018.
  11. ^ "2019 Welsh Championships Results". The Gymternet. 27 February 2019.
  12. ^ "2019 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. 5 March 2019.
  13. ^ "2019 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 18 March 2020.
  14. ^ "2019 Sainté Gym Cup Results". The Gymternet. 8 July 2019.
  15. ^ "2019European Youth Olympic Festival Results". The Gymternet. 30 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Ondine Achampong wins silver on senior international debut". British Gymnastics. 24 February 2020.
  17. ^ "2020 Baku World Cup Results". The Gymternet. 13 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Finals of Baku World Cup cancelled". International Gymnastics Federation. 13 March 2020.
  19. ^ "I'm super excited to announce that I have verbally committed to the University of California, Berkeley". Instagram. 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  20. ^ "British gymnasts announced for 2021 Artistic European Championships". British Gymnastics. 1 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Team England Reveal Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Team Set to Compete at 2022 Commonwealth Games". British Gymnastics. 23 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Commonwealth Games: England's women take team gymnastics gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Jake Jarman wins all-around gold, Ondine Achampong takes silver in women's event". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Team announced for 2022 Artistic European Championships". British Gymnastics. 4 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Italy win artistic gymnastics team gold at European Championships". International Olympic Committee. 13 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Unchanged GBR women's team named for World Gymnastics Championships". British Gymnastics. 28 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Historic world silver for women's team in Liverpool". British Gymnastics. 1 November 2022.
  28. ^ "2023 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  29. ^ "2023 Welsh Championships Results". The Gymternet. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  30. ^ "2023 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  31. ^ "British team announced for European Championships". British Gymnastics. 21 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Womens team win historic European gold". British Gymnastics. 12 April 2023.
  33. ^ "Women's team announced to complete World Championships line up". British Gymnastics. 4 September 2023.
  34. ^ "British women finish 6th in world team final". British Gymnastics. 4 October 2023.
  35. ^ "7th to Alice Kinsella and 13th for Ondine Achampong in women's World all-around final". British Gymnastics. 6 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Cal Announces 2024 Signing Class". California Golden Bears. 8 November 2023.
  37. ^ "2024 Cairo World Cup Results". The Gymternet. 18 February 2024.
  38. ^ "2024 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  39. ^ "2024 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  40. ^ "GB women's line up for the Artistic European Championships". www.british-gymnastics.org. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  41. ^ @BritGymnastics (25 April 2024). "Team update" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  42. ^ @BritGymnastics (29 April 2024). "We're all thinking of you, Ondine, and will be supporting you throughout your journey to recovery 💖" (Tweet) – via Twitter.