WATCH: Paris 2024 Olympic equipment gifted to Jersey

Friday, 15 November 2024 07:00

£125,000 worth of equipment from the Paris Olympics has been donated to Regent Gymnastics Club.

Chalk is still on the bars that were used by Olympians including Simone Biles and Matt Whitlock just this summer.

The gymnastics set, including a vault, bars, pommel horse, beams and floor, has been gifted to Jersey from the gymnastics association the IGA.

The equipment has been put in Fort Regent and is already being used by gymnastics hopefuls.

Our reporter Frankie Golding paid the sports centre a visit:

Chris Adams, CEO of IGA, tells us why he's chosen Jersey to give this equipment to:

"I just think that the Channel Islands deserves a little bit of expenditure, so the IGA has invested £125,000 worth of the equipment.

"It was shipped from Paris to Lancashire, then from Lancashire to Portsmouth, and then it came over on the boat and has arrived in Jersey, where it's basically taken us three days to put it all together."

Chris Adams

Arthur Falle, Founder of Regent Gymnastics Club, tells us he was gobsmacked when he found out about the gift:

"I came in and it was only the floor down and I said, 'well what's happening?' to my daughter. She said Chris has managed to get the whole kit.

"I said, 'the whole kit from Paris 2024? I mean, what are we talking about here?' and she said. 'bars, beam parallels, vault, beams' - and.. oh (it's) incredible.

"I couldn't believe it, (I am) just astounded at what he's helped us to do."

The long-serving local gymnastics legend tells us he hopes the equipment will give the island's young athletes a real shot at sporting success:

"It's going to take a few years as gymnastics is a slow sport - you don't just become able to compete at the Commonwealth and Olympics without the training.

"So it could be in a few years' time... maybe 10 - 15 years time... but we should see some gymnasts emerging into that level."

Arthur Falle

Gymnastic clubs in the island are currently without a permanent home, but are based temporarily in Fort Regent.

They will be moved to a centre on the Oakfield site which is in development, and will be ready by 4 November 2025.

However Mr Falle, who is also known as 'Mr Gymnastics', hopes the new set up will convince politicians to keep gymnastics in the Fort:

"We're hoping that everything will stay as it is and we will not be moved.

"As you know, we're supposed to move to Oakfield, which is a lot smaller, and I'm hoping that someone in the States will turn around and say 'hang on a minute we've got this facility, let's use it'."

Take a closer look at the Paris 2024 equipment now serving Jersey: