Olympic Gymnast has Hyndburn Academy students bouncing! Published on : 10 December 2018 / Categories: General Olympic gymnast Craig Heap literally had students jumping for joy when he recently visited the Hyndburn Academy. Originally from Burnley, Craig’s 20-year career saw him win 14 British championship titles, compete in five European and five World championships and in 1998, become the first person in history to captain England to team Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. In 2000, despite breaking his hand in two places seven weeks prior, Craig fulfilled his childhood dream of competing at the Olympic Games in Sydney, achieving a Personal Best in the All Around final. Two years later, he again captained England to another gold in the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games. On 23rd November, Craig revealed the secrets of his success when visiting the Rishton based school, talking to students from Years 7, 8 and 9 about resilience and determination. Following his presentation, Craig then took the students through a practical gymnastics session on the trampette (mini-trampoline), by the end of which, he had them doing somersaults! Following the gym session, Craig took time to have ‘selfies’ with his young audience, wearing his Commonwealth medals! Those taking part thoroughly enjoyed the session and even mentioned about joining the local gymnastics club, with the academy relaunching its own gymnastics and trampolining clubs in the New Year. Commented Executive Principal Andy O’Brien said: “At Hyndburn Academy, we strive to provide our students with an aspirational education and Craig’s visit certainly helped to demonstrate to students what is possible through hard work, focus and determination.” Next Article Super Learning at Hyndburn Academy Print