FROM the disappointment at missing out on Olympics has risen a new hope. Dan Purvis admits the shock at not making the British gymnastics team for last year’s jamboree in Rio still stings to this day. Maybe it always will.

The 26 year-old, though, has decided to channel his frustration in a positive way. His next major target now is next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia where he will look to emulate his achievements at Glasgow 2014 where he lifted three medals on home soil – one of each colour.

There is a decent chance it may be his last ever competition. It seems incredible that anyone should be planning for their retirement at the age of 26 but gymnastics is a demanding and draining discipline and Purvis knows there is only so long be can keep pushing his body to the limits. Keeping up with younger team-mates can often be a big ask, too – as he found to his cost last summer when the team for Rio was named.

If Gold Coast is to be the last stop in the line, then Purvis wants to go out on a high. This will be his first overseas multi-sport event after also competing at London 2012 – winning a team bronze – and he hopes it could prove a fitting setting to call it a day.

“Not making Rio last year was really hard to take and I was really gutted,” said Purvis, one of the Sunday Herald’s Six to Follow to the Gold Coast. “It was quite a big shock to me, my coach and my family. So I just had to get over that, pick myself up and then start thinking about the Commonwealth Games.

“I felt that I wanted to do all six disciplines [floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars] for the team, especially as it could be my last competition. If it is I want to go out on as much as a high as I can.

“Last year when I was quite down I thought a lot about my body and things like that but since I got back into it I don’t feel that much older. Touch wood, I’ve been fortunate with injuries so far. I’ve always looked after my body. So it will probably more come down to whether I can still keep up with the other lads in the squad. That to me will be the hard bit. But I’ll see how it goes at the Commonwealths and maybe I’ll decide there’s life in me to carry on. I’d love to carry on as long as I can but also have to be realistic.

“It will only be my second Commonwealth Games so I’m looking forward to it. Australia really sounds nice and I’ll have to make sure – if I make the team – that I’m not just hanging out in the sun all the time! We’ll head out about 10 days before it starts so hopefully we’ll get to see some of the country. You try and treat it just like another other competition but the fact it’s a multi-sport event makes it quite special. I really enjoy them.”

He feels confident about Scotland’s chances in gymnastics overall having just spent a week with his team-mates at a training camp in Spain.

“That was great,” he added. “It was the first Scotland training camp internationally I had been to for a while and the team seems to be really clicking together. The girls were there too and looking really good so it was an interesting trip. We had a good laugh, the venue was fantastic and all the lads got on well. Spending time together as a team is always really beneficial and getting up early in the morning is always easier when the sun is shining! Vitamin D is a good reason for getting outside on the lunch breaks. Everything was on tap, the facilities were excellent and it wasn’t stressful at all.

“There were a few others out there who will fancy making Gold Coast as well. The trials are still ongoing. The Northern Europeans [in the Faroes on October 21 and 22] will be a big one and then there’s the Scottish championships next year. But it’s really early in the year. I think the first trials may be January 4 so it will be a test for people’s test of character and willpower over Christmas!”

Before then, however, there is the small matter of the world championships in Montreal, Canada in early October. Next week’s London Open will double at the trials for that event but Purvis is not placing undue pressure on himself to qualify.

“I decided I may as well try out for the world championships,” he added. “I just want to enjoy the trials and see what happens. The worlds is a target for me but there’s no real pressure. It’s an individual worlds so they are only taking one all-rounder I think so you either have to win the competition or hope they take an apparatus specialist.

“So for me it’s just a case of going to the trials and trying to get as high a score as I can. If I make it, then great. If I don’t then it’s great to be back up there and getting ready for the next competition.”

Purvis is planning for the future as well as taking care of the present. Last year he opened two gyms in the Merseyside area and he recently passed his level two coaching exams that allows him to run the places himself when he finally retires.

“Either way before the Rio decision I was going to start my own little gymnastic company but I needed to get my level one and then two qualifications to run it properly,” he explained. “It took off last year and it’s been good, although a lot of hard work. And now I’ve just passed my level two I can run it myself when I retire.

“It’s something I wanted to do working with kids and see them enjoy gymnastics. My support staff help out a lot while I’m training and I go there when I can. When I stop competing I hope I can devote all my time to it and make it work really well.”