DAN Purvis has a busy couple of months ahead. The 27-year-old has his first competition of the year next weekend at the Scottish Championships in Perth followed by the British Championships in Liverpool next month before tackling the Commonwealth Games.
Purvis has put in an intense few months of training – such was his dedication, he was in the gym on Boxing Day – but he knew that with such a hectic first few months of the year, he could not afford to slack off. The tough regime has paid dividends and Purvis is feeling in great form ahead of this week’s event.
“I’m feeling in good shape – having the Scottish Championships and then the British Championships ahead of the Commonwealth Games is great,” he said. “The Scottish is a really good competition to see where I am but I’m always looking to become all-around champion so there’s a bit of pressure there too. And it’s good to get an outing in competition conditions.”
Last week Purvis was named in the eight-strong Scottish gymnastics team that will travel to Gold Coast and having endured the disappointment of missing out on selection for the Rio Olympics in 2016, Purvis is desperate to show he has recovered from that blow.
“The Commonwealth Games has been a real focus since not making the team for Rio so it’s really exciting to think it’s so close now,” I’m really up for the challenge and it’s always great to represent Scotland so it’s going to be an exciting few months.”
Purvis cannot afford to dedicate himself entirely to his training though because he has his own gym in Liverpool where he coaches young gymnasts but rather than it being a distraction, he views having another interest as a huge positive.
“Everything is going really well at the gym and I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “I’m not quite full time because I’m still focusing on my training but what’s good is that I’ve got some great coaches who are in charge of things when I go away. And it’s nice having a distraction from training. I’ve really found it’s helped me. Even though it’s still gymnastics, it’s not competitive gymnastics so it’s a different focus and that’s been great. It’s made me realise that there’s more to life than just training. My life has been about training since I was really young so it’s great having something different.”
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