Vi Rio 2016
Dan Purvis is struggling to come to terms with being omitted from Team GB’s gymnastic squad, but he is not giving up, hears Susan Swarbrick
AS the Team GB gymnastics squad settle into their Olympic digs in Rio this week, Dan Purvis will be 6000 miles away in the UK reflecting on what might have been. The 25-year-old Scot has been a mainstay of the Great Britain team in recent years, his performances earning him the nickname of “Mr Reliable” and “the Postman” among his peers because of his ability to deliver on the big stage. He has competed at every gymnastics major since 2009 and was an integral part of the history-making GB teams that won Olympic bronze at London four years ago and silver at the World Championships in Glasgow last autumn.
Yet Purvis was a surprise omission from the five-strong men’s contingent that will compete at the Olympic Games next weekend. The quintet will be led by reigning world pommel horse champion Max Whitlock, alongside Nile Wilson, Kristian Thomas, Brinn Bevan and Louis Smith. Purvis, Sam Oldham and Courtney Tulloch were named as nontravelling reserves.
Purvis admits that no one was more surprised than him. “I was gutted,” he says. “It was a massive shock not only from my point of view but for my personal coach [Jeff Brooks] and my family too. We thought there was a real possibility of me going to Rio. Realistically, it is probably my last chance at an Olympic Games so that is quite hard to swallow.”
He appealed the decision but was unsuccessful. There is no bitterness when Purvis recounts how events unfolded. Merely confusion and disappointment as he attempts to make sense of it all.
Nor is there any doubting his sincerity as he wishes the selected gymnasts all the best as they begin their medal quest at the Rio Olympic Arena next weekend.
“I’m 100 per cent behind the team,” he says. “It is because of the guys that I pushed as hard as I did and I would like to think I pushed them on too. I have such close friends in the team. I will be supporting them and hope to see them do well.”
Motivating himself to return to training in recent weeks has taken colossal inner strength. “I was disheartened and if I wasn’t going [to Rio] wondered whether I wanted to be the reserve,” says Purvis. “I thought about it and decided that for the team – and my mates – I wanted to be there in case anything happened. I think that has helped me get back in the gym.”
There was a week between Purvis learning he wouldn’t be going to Rio and the official team announcement. He spent that period in enforced solitary confinement unable to tell anyone until the news was made public.
Purvis was blown away with the reaction from fans who flooded his social media with words of support. “I didn’t expect that response,” he says. “I admits what he is experiencing is effectively a grieving process.
“I don’t know if I will ever get over it because I felt in really good shape,” he
I was gutted. It was a massive shock. I’m still trying to understand it. Hopefully I can find answers, then move on