27th February 2010
I've just returned from Cancun in Mexico where I spent two weeks training with the Senior Squad and the Canadian squad as part of my preparation for the European Championships. The training was really hard so unfortunately we didn't get chance to do a lot of the beach stuff but we did manage to get two afternoons in of Jet Skiing in.
During the camp though I experienced a lot of problems with my wrist and was unable to train fully for the last 4/5 days. This has continued since I returned so I was sent for an MRI scan last week. Luckily this has only shown bruising but I've been advised to stay off Pommel and Rings for at least two weeks.
This has meant having to pull out of a competition in Portugal this weekend which is shame but I think its better to miss this competition rather than do further damage and jeopardise my European chances.
Next week, I'll be at Lilleshall so I'll be able to monitor my progress there and there'll be lots of training camps and competitions coming up during the next few weeks as I prepare for the European Championships in April
30th January 2010
This weekend I was featured in the Nottingham Evening Post, please click here to read the full article.
19th December 2009
I have just returned from very cold (-30c) Moscow, where I competed in the Voronin Cup. The competition is an important build up towards The European Championships next year and I was delighted to finish with a gold, three silvers and a bronze medal, overall I took the All Round Silver medal which think was a great achievement considering the fact that most competitors are aged 17 and 18.
5th December 2009
I've just been awarded with the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award, please take a look at my blog...
November 2009
British All Round Under 16 Champion
British Under 16 Individual Vault Champion - Click here to see video and interview
British Under 16 Individual Pommel Champion - Click here to see video
British Under 16 Individual High Bar Champion
British Under 16 Individual Rings Champion
24th October 2009
I've just returned from Milan where I competed along together with Max Bennett, Frank Baines and Tom Gibbs in the Luigi Bertolazzi Memorial Competition where we took the team gold and I also won the Individual All Round title too.
18th September 2009
English Championships
English Junior All Round Champion
English Junior Pommel Champion
English Junior Rings Champion
English Junior Vault Champion
English Junior Parallel Bars Champion
English High Bar Champion
English Junior Floor Champion.
24th July 2009
Tonight I won double gold medals in the pommel horse and parallel bars at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere, Finland. The competition has been a fantastic success for me and I was delighted to beat two of Russia's most talented gymnasts - Igor Pakhomenko and Maksym Semyankiv although it was disappointing that we couldn't manage to take the Team title with Team GB finishing in fifth place overall.
25th April 2009
I have been nominated by The British Olympic Association to compete for Great Britain at The European Youth Olympics in Finland in July. There will be 48 countries competing and this mirrors the the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, where by you stay in an Atheltes Village and there will be an opening ceremony etc.
PJD have kindly provided me with a laptop which has enabled me to do my school work whilst training at Lilleshall and also when I recently competed in Switzerland and with huge thanks to David Hayle at PJD, I now have a further sponsorship deal with PACS Ltd who will supply me with my consumables such as guards, clothing, gym shoes etc.
18th-19th April, 2009
As a team, we came second behind Switzerland with Germany taking the Bronze at the Under 18 International in Zurich. We were leading all competition until our last piece which was the floor exercise. Unfortunatley a few errors allowed Switzerland to catch up and we lost out by 1.65 marks. I had an okay competition, scoring the highest mark of the competition on Pommels. It was a good competition to try my new routines and moves as part of building up to next years big target of The European Championships in Birmingham. I was pleased with obviously Pommels and also my Rings, Floor and Vault went okay.
I am now back training working on my new programme for next years Europeans and the first Youth Olympics in Singapore.
15th January 2009
Team GB has just won Gold in the Mens Artistic Gymnastics!! The team, which consisted of Reiss Beckford, Max Whitlock, Ashley Watson & I managed to put a fantastic performance on to win Gold ahead of China, capping a superb day in which the Ladies team won bronze in their event too. Read more here...
Catch up with my latest news here. On Sunday, 11th January I had an interview with
Alan Hubbard published in The Independent. Go to the article
2nd January 2009
I'm now starting my final preparations at Lilleshall before departing for Sydney on 7th January where I will be competing from 15th - 18th for Great Britain in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. Competing with me will be Reiss Beckford, Ashley Watson and Max Whitlock. Click here to follow our progress.
23rd December 2008
Thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of people, I now have a main sponsor,
PJD Engineering Ltd have signed a 3 year sponsorship package which includes the provision of a Ford Galaxy together with a fuel card.
This will help me immensely as it will enable me to travel to training and competitions and will also enable my family to come and support me. I am very grateful for this and look forward to rewarding PJD for their faith in me.
27th November 2008
At a start studded lunch I sat with former Surrey and England cricket captain Alec Stewart who supported the event along with many other British sports stars, many of whom have inspired the potential stars of the future. It was great to sit with someone who has achieved so much success in sport although despite trying to, he didn't manage to convert me into a Chelsea fan!
The lunch and ceremony a great end to a year in which I have achieved so much but I was absolutely astounded to then be named as the National Winner of the OCS Sports Aid Young Sports Person of the Year and am proud and privileged to have won such a prestigious award ahead of so many of my other, highly talented contemporaries. Along with the award which was presented by sports presenter Clare Balding and Olympic Gold Medal winner Tim Brabants, I I was also awarded with a grant which will help me towards the upcoming costs of training and competing but there was still one further surprise - a video message from Louis Smith, Great Britain's Olympic bronze medal winner in Beijing, as he is also one of my training partners, it was a real surprise as his message had been recorded a week earlier whilst we were both training together.
As 2008 comes towards an end, I have had a brilliant year but hopefully it isn't over yet as there are still a few weeks to go before this year finishes but I'm already looking forward to next year as i'll be off to Sydney early in the New Year to represent Great Britain at The Australian Youth Olympics from 6th - 20th January, hopefully I can start off next year in the same way...
2nd November 2008
At the Under 16 Mens Artistic British Gymnastic Championships in Goresbrook, London I took the bronze medal with a total of 83.55 points, finishing just behind the eventual winner Ashley Watson (84.00 points) and second placed Reiss Beckford (83.7 points).
10th May 2008
I was part of the Great Britain squad who won the UEG European Junior Gymnastics Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland where we scored 265.475 points, ahead of Russia (263.3 points) and Germany (258.475 points), I also finished in seventh position with an overall score of 85.875 points.
Here's a very important part of the Great Britain fan club, they are;- Bobby, Dawn, Jack, Olivia, Isobel, Jenny (otherwise known as Dad, Mum, my brother, sisters and Grandma).
Quotes from the tournament...
"This is the greatest team Britain has ever assembled! This is a Team for London 2012. The work and commitment of the gymnasts and their personal coaches has allowed British Gymnastics to help them them towards this European title"
Trevor Low, Chairman of the Men's TC.
“Today we are playing for 2 Gold medals. For sure the team event is between Russia and Great Britain and if we go clean then we will be 5 points clear with Gold. For Daniel Keatings there can be overall Gold and then a Pommels Gold. At this Europeans everyone is looking at Great Britain as a Champion Gymnastics Nation.”
Andre Popov, Great Britain Coach.
“ There is only one country to look at, Great Britain”.
Dieter Hoffman, former East German Head coach.
February 16th - 17th, 2008
In December, 2007 I also participated at the ERDGAS International in Liestal, Switzerland where over 40 gymnasts competed in the Under 16-17 section including many of the World’s best nations including Russia, Ukraine and Germany. During the competition I included some new moves into my routines and I was really pleased to have come second with a total score of 85.20.
The winner was Victor Stepanenko who scored 86.0 points.
November 5th, 2007
I am really proud to announce that I have just become the British Under 14 Champion where I scored a total of 85.65 points and also won individual titles in the rings, floor and parallel bars disciplines.
October 23rd, 2007
I have just returned with my Great Britain team mates from The Olympic Hopes Competition, Liberec, Czech Republic where we won the team gold ahead of the Ukraine and Hungary.
As this was an Under 18 competition, many of the teams were using this competition as preparation for the European Championships which take place in 2008 and as such, we had by far the youngest team.
Individually, this was a fantastic tournament for me following my recent ankle ligament injury and I scored my highest ever score on both the pommel horse and the rings.