He has a thick Scouse accent but Dan Purvis has ambitions to win gold for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. The 18 year-old is going the right way about it.

His progress over the last few years has been impressive and his coming of age was in Milan at the European Championships earlier this year, his first major international at senior level.

Purvis not only came through the qualifying rounds but went on to finish seventh against some of the top gymnasts in the world.

Scot Dan Keatings won a silver and it prompted Eddie Van Hoof, the Great Britain technical director to enthuse about the performances. “It only gets better,” he said, "Both our Scottish "Dans" have done a great job for GB. The medal and the rankings show how we are competing so well against the very best in the world."

Purvis is eligible to compete for Scotland through his mother Denise, who is from Dundee, and she will be a proud parent this month when her son returns “home” to compete in the Glasgow Grand Prix at the Kelvin Hall for the first time.

The young gymnast first came to prominence when he won a gold in the Parallel Bars at the World Schools’ Championships in Athens three years ago. He then went on to make his mark at the European Junior Championships.

“I think my big breakthrough was in Greece at the European Junior Championships in 2006 when I was 15,” he recalls.

“I was part of the five-man British team and we finished fourth which was a lot higher than our expectations. It has really gone on from there.

“I was born in Liverpool but part of me still feels Scottish. I competed for Scotland at the North European Championships and I can compete for them in the Commonwealth Games although for World Championships and Olympics, I compete for Great Britain.”

Purvis looks like missing next year’s Commonwealth Games in India as it clashes with the dates for the World Championships.

But his focus is now on making this year’s World Championships in London in August and is putting the hours in at his base in Lilleshall.

It is a heady time for British gymnastics. Not only is Keatings producing the goods but Peterborough’s Louis Smith won a bronze at last year’s Olympics in Beijing, the first British medal in the sport for 80 years.

Purvis is the latest to come through and he is proving himself a natural. “Begin from Liverpool, of course I tried football when I was young but I was shocking at it,” he says candidly.

“I heard about a local gymnastics club in Southport and I went along when I was seven and really enjoyed throwing myself around.

“After that, there wasn’t much time for other sports and gymnastics has taken up most of my time every since.

”I’m now training full-time at Lilleshall six days a week – from 9.30am to 1.30pm and from 3.30pm-6.30pm every day.

“I’m hoping to qualify for this year’s World Championships but I’m also looking beyond that.

““It would be great to compete in Glasgow in 2014 and I think it would be special for my mum. That is one of my targets but there is London 2012 before that.

“That’s my main aim now. The sport is really strong just now in Britain and men’s gymnastics has really picked up in recent years.

“I think that’s down to having the Russian coaches working with us now and I know that has really been a big help for me.

“The rings is my strongest event just now but I’m still developing my strength and have some way to go.”

Purvis knows he will be competing against his fellow GB team-mates in the years ahead but there is a strong bond between them, and he is grateful for Keatings’ support in recent months, particularly at the European Championships in Milan.

“It was a bit of a surprise for me. I was 12th in the qualifying event so I didn’t expect to finish so high.  There was a big crowd for the finals and it was nerve-wracking but my team-mates helped me out,” he continues.

“It was a great experience and Dan Keatings really helped me and gave me advice throughout the finals and that was great.

“He went on to win the silver medal and did really well and I was really happy for him.”

RM
© Copyright In The Winning Zone, MMIX, All Rights Reserved

Photographs courtesy of Alan Edwards - www.sports-photo.co.uk