Claudia Fragapane

Fragapane grew up in Bristol, where she attended St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School."[http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/11-bristol-celebrities-go-school-17024 Where did these 11 Bristol celebrities go to school?]",Bristol Post, 2 April 2017 (Accessed 4 April 2017) She started gymnastics at age six.

At the British national championships in 2014, Fragapane placed 2nd on vault with a score of 14.000, 5th on floor exercise (13.000), and 3rd on uneven bars (13.950). She finished third in the all-around competition with a total score of 55.700,{{cite web|url=http://www.british-gymnastics.org/event/7640/mens-womens-artistic-british-championships-2014|title=Mens & Womens Artistic British Championships 2014 – British Gymnastics|access-date=25 April 2015}} and was selected to compete at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

At the European Championships, she contributed to Britain's silver-medal performance in the team competition. Individually, she qualified for the vault and floor exercise finals, finishing 6th and 8th, respectively, with scores of 14.333 (vault) and 14.133 (floor).{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/gymnastics/27462304|title=BBC Sport – European Gymnastics: Rebecca Downie wins gold in uneven bars|author=Nick Hope|work=BBC Sport|access-date=25 April 2015}}

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Fragapane competed on all four events in the team final, where the English team won gold.{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw400100/womens_team_final.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731022253/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw400100/womens_team_final.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=31 July 2014 |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's Team Final |author= |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014}} She qualified first into the all-around final with a score of 56.740, more than a point and a half ahead of the second-place qualifier Ellie Black of Canada.{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw024901/womens_all_around_qualification.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730231414/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw024901/womens_all_around_qualification.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=30 July 2014 |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's All-Around Qualification |author= |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014}} She also qualified first on balance beam,{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw008901/womens_beam_qualification.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810065658/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw008901/womens_beam_qualification.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 August 2014 |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's Beam Qualification |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014}} vault,{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw002901/womens_vault_qualification.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810064022/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw002901/womens_vault_qualification.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 August 2014 |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's Vault Qualification |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014}} and floor.{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw001901/womens_floor_qualification.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731001149/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw001901/womens_floor_qualification.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=31 July 2014 |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's Floor Qualification |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014}} Fragapane won the individual all-around final with a score of 56.132,{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw024102/womens_aa_final___subdivision_2.html |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's AA Final |website=2014 Glasgow |access-date=29 July 2014 |archive-date=31 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731012821/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw024102/womens_aa_final___subdivision_2.html |url-status=usurped }} and the women's vault final with a score of 14.633.{{cite web |url=http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw002101/womens_vault_final.html |title=Gymnastics Artistic Women's Vault Final |date=31 July 2014 |website=Glasgow 2014 |access-date=31 July 2014 |archive-date=10 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810121032/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw002101/womens_vault_final.html |url-status=usurped }} On 1 August, she won the floor final with a score of 14.541.{{cite web|url= http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw001101/womens_floor_final.html|title= Gymnastic's Artistic Women's Floor Final|website= 2014 Glasgow|access-date= 1 August 2014|archive-date= 3 August 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140803011125/http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/gymnastics_artistic/gaw001101/womens_floor_final.html|url-status= usurped}} With four gold medals in a single competition, Fragapane was England's most successful female Commonwealth Games competitor in over 80 years.

In October, Fragapane competed at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where she helped the British women qualify into the team finals in 4th place. Individually, she qualified for the all-around in 13th place with a score of 55.999, despite a fall on the balance beam. She also qualified for the floor final in 6th place (14.400) and the vault final in 7th place (14.716).

In the team final, she contributed a vault score of 14.466 and a floor score of 14.533 towards the British team's 6th-place finish. In the individual all-around final, she placed 10th with a total score of 56.098. In the vault final, she scored 14.716 and tied for 5th place with Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland. In the floor final, a fall and a step out of bounds put her in 8th place with a score of 13.100.

After Fragapane's success in 2014, she was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, edging out para-cyclist Sophie Thornhill and golfer Bradley Neil.

File:2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Balance beam - Claudia Fragapane 17.jpg]]

Fragapane competed at the 2015 American Cup in Arlington, Texas.{{cite web|url=http://www.attamericancup.com/2015/01/usas-mikulak-skinner-whittenburg-will-compete-2015-att-american-cup/|title=USA's Mikulak, Skinner, Whittenburg will compete at 2015 AT&T American Cup – AT&T American Cup|work=AT&T American Cup|date=15 January 2015|access-date=25 April 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/site/figNews/view?id=1009|title=Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique – View FigNews|access-date=25 April 2015}} She struggled throughout the competition, counting numerous falls,{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BnJ2Vc054Y|title=Claudia Fragapane (GBR) – Floor Exercise – 2015 AT&T American Cup|date=7 March 2015|work=YouTube|access-date=25 April 2015}} and finished 9th.{{cite web|url=https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15ac.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-11-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326104906/https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/w_15ac.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2015 |df=dmy }} A week later, she competed at the English Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Loughborough, where she scored 54.900 all-around.{{cite web|url=https://www.gymdata.co.uk/events/scores.aspx?eid=576&type=gymnast&gid=223|title=Gymdata ~ 2015 English Championships ~ Claudia Fragapane|access-date=25 April 2015}}

At the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier, France, Fragapane placed 6th in the all-around final,{{cite web |url=http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/aafinal.pdf |title=6th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships : Women's All-Around Final |website=Gymnasticsresults.com |access-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418164452/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/aafinal.pdf |archive-date=18 April 2015 |url-status=dead }} 6th in the vault final,{{cite web |url=http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af1vt.pdf |title=6th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships : Women's Apparatus Finals |website=Gymnasticsresults.com |access-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705033913/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af1vt.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=dead }} 4th on the beam,{{cite web |url=http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af3bb.pdf |title=6th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships : Women's Apparatus Finals |website=Gymnasticsresults.com |access-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705034912/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af3bb.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=dead }} and 2nd in the floor final, behind Ksenia Afanasyeva of Russia.{{cite web |url=http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af4fx.pdf |title=6th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships : Women's Apparatus Finals |website=Gymnasticsresults.com |access-date=2016-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705043113/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/wag/af4fx.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=dead }}

In October, Fragapane was part of the gymnastics team that won Great Britain's first-ever team medal, a bronze, at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

In March 2016, Fragapane won the all-around title and three event titles at the 2016 English Championships in Loughborough.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2016/03/19/2016-english-championships-results/ |title=2016 English Championships Results | The Gymternet |website=Thegymter.net |date=2016-03-19 |access-date=2016-08-26}} This was followed up by winning the All-Around title at the British Championships in April, held at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Fragapane won the title with a personal best score of 58.10, this was the highest All-Around score of any British woman in the 2012-2016 Olympic Cycle. In July, she was named in Great Britain's women's gymnastics team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, along with Becky Downie, Ellie Downie, Ruby Harrold, and Amy Tinkler.{{cite web|url=https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/6591-our-2016-olympic-gymnasts-announced|title=Team GB's 2016 Olympic gymnasts announced|date=2016-07-12|website=british-gymnastics.org|access-date=2016-08-17|archive-date=5 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805021612/https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/6591-our-2016-olympic-gymnasts-announced|url-status=dead}}

At the Olympics, Fragapane fell on uneven bars and balance beam in the qualifications round and narrowly missed the cut for the individual all-around final. She also placed 8th on floor but missed out on a place in the final by the Olympic tie-breaking rules.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/08/09/rio-olympics-2016-womens-gymnastics-final-simone-biles-live/|title=Rio Olympics 2016 women's team gymnastics final - Simone Biles leads USA to gold in crushing victory|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=9 August 2016|last1=Yorke|first1=Harry|last2=Bagchi|first2=Rob}} Great Britain finished fifth in the team final.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/higher-stronger-fiercer-us-women-win-gymnastics-team-gold-8-points?chrcontext=goldenmoments|title='Final Five' win gymnastics team gold in Rio|last=Fincher|first=Julia|date=2016-08-09|website=nbcolympics.com|access-date=2016-08-17|archive-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813000142/http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/higher-stronger-fiercer-us-women-win-gymnastics-team-gold-8-points?chrcontext=goldenmoments|url-status=dead}}

At the 2017 European Championships Fragapane qualified for the balance beam and floor finals, finishing 8th and 7th respectively.

Fragapane qualified in fourth for the floor final at the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships with a score of 13.933 before winning bronze in the final, her first individual medal at the championships, with the same score as in qualifying behind Mai Murakami of Japan, and Jade Carey of the US. She is Great Britain's second world championship medalist, after Beth Tweddle.

Fragapane's season was cut short when, in March 2018, she sustained an Achilles injury.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/gymnastics/43258727|title=Fragapane out of Commonwealth Games|work=BBC Sport }}

Fragapane made her comeback debut at the British Championships, where she only competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. In event finals she placed fourth on uneven bars and second on floor exercise behind Ellie Downie.{{cite web|url=https://thegymter.net/2019/03/18/2019-british-championships-results/|title=2019 British Championships Results|work=The Gymternet|date=18 March 2019}} On 19 March she was named to the team to compete at the 2019 European Championships, replacing Kelly Simm after she broke her foot. She competed alongside Downie, Alice Kinsella, and Amelie Morgan.{{cite web|url=https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/8197-claudia-fragapane-replaces-kelly-simm-in-european-championship-line-up|title=Claudia Fragapane replaces Kelly Simm in European Championship line up|work=British Gymnastics|date=19 March 2019|access-date=19 March 2019|archive-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324174815/https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/8197-claudia-fragapane-replaces-kelly-simm-in-european-championship-line-up|url-status=dead}} During qualifications Fragapane finished first on floor exercise and advanced to the final.{{cite web|url=https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/8247-british-women-shine-in-european-championship-qualifying|title=British women shine in European Championship qualifying|work=British Gymnastics|date=11 April 2019|access-date=11 April 2019|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411210518/https://www.british-gymnastics.org/news-and-events/news/latest-news/8247-british-women-shine-in-european-championship-qualifying|url-status=dead}} During the final she placed fifth.

Fragapane was intending to compete at the 2021 European Championships in April; however, during trials she suffered from a head injury which resulted in a concussion.{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/01/gymnast-claudia-fragapane-rushed-to-hospital-after-scary-accident-14345209/|title=Strictly Come Dancing star Claudia Fragapane rushed to hospital after 'scary' accident during trial|work=Metro|date=April 1, 2021}} She returned to competition at the Koper World Challenge Cup where she won the gold on floor.{{cite web|url= https://www.british-gymnastics.org/articles/claudia-gold-courtney-silver-for-gb-at-world-challenge-cup|title= Claudia gold, Courtney silver for GB at World Challenge Cup|website=British Gymnastics|date=September 6, 2021}} In September Fragapane was selected to compete at the 2021 World Championships{{cite web|url=https://www.british-gymnastics.org/articles/british-team-named-for-2021-artistic-world-championships|title=British team named for 2021 Artistic World Championships|work=British Gymnastics|date=September 24, 2021}} but had to withdraw after injuring her foot in training.{{cite web|url= https://www.ginnasticando.it/2021/09/28/mondiali-kitakyushu-claudia-fragapane-di-nuovo-fuori-dai-giochi/|title= Mondiali Kitakyushu, Claudia Fragapane di nuovo fuori dai giochi|trans-title= Kitakyushu Worlds, Claudia Fragapane out of the games again|website=Ginnasticando|language=IT|date=September 28, 2021}}

In June Fragapane was selected to represent England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games alongside Ondine Achampong, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Alice Kinsella, and Kelly Simm.{{cite web|url=https://www.british-gymnastics.org/england/latest-news/9862-team-england-reveal-artistic-and-rhythmic-gymnastics-team-set-to-compete-at-2022-commonwealth-games|title=Team England Reveal Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Team Set to Compete at 2022 Commonwealth Games|date=June 23, 2022|work=British Gymnastics|access-date=24 June 2022|archive-date=27 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627141830/https://www.british-gymnastics.org/england/latest-news/9862-team-england-reveal-artistic-and-rhythmic-gymnastics-team-set-to-compete-at-2022-commonwealth-games|url-status=dead}} The group went on to win gold in the women's team all-around competition - Fragapane's fifth Commonwealth gold.{{cite news |title=Commonwealth Games: England's women take team gymnastics gold |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/62363734 |access-date=30 July 2022}}

{{main|Strictly Come Dancing (series 14)}}

Fragapane participated in the 2016 series of the popular reality TV competition show Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with AJ Pritchard. The couple reached the semi-finals but were eliminated on 11 December 2016, thus finishing in 4th place overall.

Aged 18 at the time, Fragapane was the second youngest celebrity ever to participate, the youngest having been former EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton who was 17 when she competed in 2006. She is also the first female Olympic gymnast to compete on the show, the first gymnast having been Series 10 champion Louis Smith.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/strictlycomedancing/entries/d92b513a-6971-4562-84eb-e68d7968367e |title=BBC Blogs - Strictly Come Dancing - Somersaulting into Strictly… it's Claudia Fragapane! |website=Bbc.co.uk |date=20 August 2016 |access-date=2016-08-26}}

She also appeared on Take Me Out, series 10, episode 8, where she was a choosing contestant and went on a date.

File:2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Vault - Claudia Fragapane 03.jpg]]

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Category:1997 births

Category:Living people

Category:British female artistic gymnasts

Category:English female artistic gymnasts

Category:English people of Italian descent

Category:Olympic gymnasts for Great Britain

Category:Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Category:Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics

Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England

Category:Gymnasts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

Category:Sportspeople from Bristol

Category:Gymnasts at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Category:Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Category:Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Category:21st-century English sportswomen