WHEN Dan Purvis departed the Gold Coast a few weeks ago, he knew it was likely to be his last taste of Commonwealth Games action as an athlete.
It marked an end of an era for the gymnast who has been the face of the sport in this country for almost a decade, but his two bronze medals – in the team event and on the floor - softened the blow.
There has been little time for the 27-year-old to relax in the aftermath of the Games though, with a knee injury causing him concern and threatening to rule him out of Glasgow 2018 this summer, which had been a target of Purvis’ for quite some time.
Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Purvis, who was one of the Sunday Herald’s ‘6 to Follow’, had talked about his desire to win a team medal for Scotland. Having been part of the squad that won an historic silver medal at Glasgow 2014, Purvis was under no illusions as to the size of their task in Gold Coast but as captain of the gymnastics team, he was up for the challenge.
Being team captain was a novel experience for Purvis and while a number of the team were young and relatively inexperienced gymnasts in comparison to Purvis himself, as it transpired, they gave the Olympic medallist an easy few weeks.
“I’ve never been team captain before – normally everyone is looking after me but I really enjoyed it,” he said. “In a sense, the younger guys were looking to me to take the lead but actually, once we got to the Athletes Village, everyone was really calm so it was pretty easy.
“And in the competition, the lads really came into their own and did brilliantly.
“Just as we thought it was going to be, it was a very tough battle and we had to really dig deep in the team event.
“We were proud of how we fought right until the end because we had a few very tough pieces but we just showed that our hard training had paid off. Seeing the lads competing like that under so much pressure was great and that made it really emotional at the end.”
Purvis would be 31 at the next Commonwealth Games and while not impossible, is seems unlikely he will be competing at Birmingham 2022. As with most athletes who have had such illustrious careers, he felt a tinge of sadness that his Commonwealth career may have been coming to an end but he also used his emotions to drive his performance.
“It was a different experience thinking it might be my last Games,” he said. “I only made one individual final and I had been hoping to make more but I just thought to myself well, this could be my last so give it my absolute all.
“In the floor final, I wanted to go out with the best routine I possibly could. Going into that, I was nervous because I wanted show everyone what I could do. I was so happy to come away with a medal – I couldn’t have done much of a better routine and it was great to come back to Scotland with two medals.”
However, Purvis is adamant that he is not quite finished yet. Glasgow 2018 is the next major championship in the calendar but with the knee trouble he is currently enduring, he fears August may just come too soon. And with the World Championships later on in the year, Purvis is cognisant that certain events may have to be prioritised, as well as judging if a push for Tokyo 2020 is a realistic aim.
“I’ll just have to see how things go – I’d love to be a part of the Europeans in Glasgow but I can’t say for sure I’ll be ready,” he said. “It would be another home Games for me, which would be amazing but I have to take my time. I think these things happen when you get to my age.
“I’m at the stage of my career where I have to decide if I’m going to push for Tokyo or if I’m going to go out and get a real job. But I love the sport so I really want to get this sorted and see if I can make a real go of things for two more years.”
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