SHSS Spotlight - Lola O'Donnell

TY journalist, Ciara Pettit-Mee, caught up with Lola O’Donnell last week to chat about her illustrious gymnastics career.

Tell us about yourself.

Hi, My name is Lola O’Donnell, I’m in TY here in SHSS, I’m fifteen years old and I do Acrobatic Gymnastics with Ballincollig Gymnastics club and at the moment I’m in an IDP1 trio.

When did you start?

I started gymnastics when I was living in England at four years old. When I moved here I did it with Bandon for a short while and then I went to Ballincollig Gymnastics Club but I only got moved up into Acro in June 2022.

What are the benefits? I

t’s a very tough sport, you have to work on your flexibility at the same time as your strength. You’re continuously working with other people so it’s definitely teamwork and trust but its very good to get used to working with people and building trust with the people you work with.

Greatest Achievements to date?

I’d say it would have to be my first Acro competition when I was competing in Newcastle, England as it was my first Acro competition and it was an international. There earlier in March we were competing in Nationals and we came first in our division so it was pretty good too.

Who is your sporting hero?

Jessica Gardiova. She’s an English gymnast who’s been on the National squad since 2019 and she’s very young so it’s very inspiring as she’s only 18 years old and she’s on her way for the Paris 2024 Olympics. I definitely look up to her.

We wish Lola all the best in her future competitions. Thanks to Ciara for this fab interview.