I can look at her in that video and think, ‘Yeah! On that day, at that time, she was happy. People talk about rollercoaster rides with highs and lows but if you asked Aasha, she’d probably say that 90 per cent of her gymnastic memories are lows. She had come third and it’s one of the few times I’ve seen her show true joy. ‘Aasha was 11 and she’d had a tough year. ‘It’s a video I watch when I’m really down,’ she says. Nikki knows each one by heart but there’s only one she looks at now. On Nikki’s laptop, though, are scores of videos which show a small girl spinning and somersaulting. It’s as if it never happened,’ says Nikki. She still lives at home but her bedroom shows no trace of her ten years as an elite gymnast – ‘no photos, no medals, no trophies. At the same time, she knows that years of hearing that she was ‘weak’ and ‘lazy’ has left a deeper mark. There was also a police investigation which closed without charge due to ‘insufficient evidence’.Īasha is now a trainee solicitor with an international law firm and believes her gymnastics career helped build her rock-solid work ethic. Perfect for practice or competition, dance or gymnastics Each leotard comes with a matching scrunchie. In 2017, the coach was suspended from practice and is still under investigation by British Gymnastics. Perfect Balance Metallic Tank Leotard is perfect for gymnastics Shine everyday in this versatile, basic high-neck Metallic/Spandex tank leotard. ‘Hearing so many other parents having exactly the same experiences didn’t lessen the guilt, but it made me feel less alone.’ ‘I felt like the most horrendous parent in the world I’d allowed awful things to happen to my child,’ says Nikki. You’re told about parents who complained and their child was taken off the team

Soon, Aasha was leaving school early to train up to 24 hours a week. (‘Do I look like I want to see your f***ing fat a*se flying at me like that?’) Eventually, she found a coach who was young and dynamic and trained a tight-knit group of girls who all seemed to love her. In the next, Nikki was worried by the shouting she heard from coaches. In that first club, Nikki felt that all the focus was on Aasha and it was too much pressure. Ironically, Nikki moved Aasha to two different clubs in search of the healthiest environment for her daughter. ‘When Aasha was five he told me she could be Britain’s first Olympic champion – unless Beth Tweddle beat her to it,’ says Nikki. She seemed to have everything – flexibility, strength, balance, grace. The girls’ group instructor was Ukrainian and had trained Olympians in the Soviet Union.

She was a single mother of three living in North London when Aasha, her youngest, started at the local gymnastics club that her elder brother enjoyed. This was certainly the case for Nikki, 52, who works as a bookings officer for a sports company.

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