Laura Victoria Jones is a British gymnast

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 selected for the Great Britain team

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association , and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. Britain is one of only five NOCs to have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1896...

 at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games but had to drop out due to injury, to be replaced by Imogen Cairns

Imogen Cairns

Imogen Jane Cairns is an English gymnast. She has won the British Junior Championship twice, in 2003 & 2004. She is coached by Liz Kincaid at the Academy of Gymnastics in Portishead, Somerset. In 2005 at the DTB Cup She placed 4th on vault and 3rd for her floor exercise...

.

Known as "Loz" or "Lozzy" by some friends, Jones began doing gymnastics at Erewash Gymnastics Club in 1999 when she observed her older sisters, Emma and Katrina. Soon, Jones was training upwards of thirty hours per week at Notts Gymnastics Club

Notts Gymnastics Club

Notts Gymnastics Club is an artistic gymnastics club based at East Midlands Gymnastics Centre in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire. The club formed in 1997 when Bigwood and Rushcliffe Gymnastics Club combined to share the newly built East Midlands Gymnastics Centre....

. She currently lists Olympic champion Carly Patterson

Carly Patterson

Carly Rae Patterson is an American singer and former gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic All-Around Champion and a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame...

, and world champion Vanessa Ferrari

Vanessa Ferrari

Vanessa Ferrari , is a World Champion Gymnast from Italy. Her mother, Galya, is Bulgarian and her father, Giovanni, is Italian....

, as her favourite gymnasts and influences.

Laura Jones has had quite a few successes in her gymnastics career:

• 2006: placed 3rd in the all-around at the Junior British championships
• Helped the Notts team to become British team champions, beating competition from the Liverpool, Huntingdon and Heathrow teams.
• 2006: placed 4th on beam at the Junior European Championships
• First British gymnast to compete a punch front half
• Only British gymnast to currently compete a triple twist dismount

While not doing gymnastics, Laura likes to go to the cinema with friends and go shopping. She likes buying leotard

Leotard

A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....

s and is rumoured to own over sixty.

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