Gymnastics: Amazing Amy

The 19-year-old from Giffnock suffered what she and her coach Sandy Richardson describe as a "freak accident" in training, losing her grip on the high bar while performing a simple handstand move, a move she had completed hundreds of times before. As Regan fell she missed the matting and landed on the nearby concrete floor, her left foot and ankle taking the brunt of the impact.

The result was a fractured talus bone, leaving her sidelined as the countdown clock for the Games ticked ominously away. Displaying dogged tenacity, however, Regan was back in the gym four days later doing light training, albeit with her movements restricted by the bulky compression boot that encased her lower leg.

After six weeks, she was making good progress and doctors said she could remove the boot. No sooner was Regan poised to celebrate this small victory, when another bombshell dropped: her mother Ann was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Understandably, Regan initially struggled to process the heartbreaking news. Tears prick her eyes and her voice cracks as she recalls the shock of hearing that Ann, 48, had stage three cancer.

"For the first week after my mum was diagnosed I couldn't stop crying, but it got to the point where I thought: 'I can't be like this'. I realised I had to be strong," she says. "If you had told me a year ago this was going to be my path to the Games I would have said: 'There is no way I can cope with all that' but I've had to."

The experience provided fresh impetus with which to pursue her Commonwealth Games ambitions. "When we first found out about my mum it was hard to go to the gym as normal and stay focused on training," she says. "What kept me going was that my mum told me she wanted to watch me compete at the Games. That gave me the extra push I needed. It gave her a goal too because she wanted to be well enough to see me do that."

Regan pauses, wiping away tears. "I'm sorry," she says, apologising unnecessarily. "My mum is actually at chemotherapy today. She is doing a lot better than she was. Her operation [to remove the cancer] went well. My sister Shona and I went with her to choose her new wig. She tried on loads of different ones. Shona and I tried on a few too which was fun. In the end, she chose one that was similar to her own hair and it looks great.

"My mum is coping brilliantly with everything. Even with the chemo she says it doesn't bother her, that she doesn't care as long as she's getting better and that's all that matters. Seeing the way she is about it is amazing and that inspires me."

Her smile is back, eyes sparkling. "It's given me that fire in my belly. My mum kept telling me: 'I'll be at the Games, so you need to be too.' We have helped each other."

While likable and disarmingly sweet, let there be no doubt: this is a young woman with grit and determination running through her veins. Warming up for the vault final at the British Championships three years ago, Regan landed awkwardly, chipping a bone in her ankle. She also missed the Scottish Championships in 2009 with a torn hamstring. But every time she has come back even stronger.

Regan started gymnastics as a three-year-old after tagging along to lessons with her elder sister Shona, who now assists alongside her main coach Richardson at Bellahouston in Glasgow. She is arguably Scotland's most successful female gymnast, a position that Regan never imagined herself being in at the beginning of her sporting career.

"When I was younger I was never the best," she says. "I would always come last in competitions and back then I don't think anyone would have imagined I would be going to the Commonwealth Games one day."

She is now on her way to her second Games as part of the five-strong Team Scotland women's artistic gymnastics squad alongside Emma White, Cara Kennedy, Carly Smith and Erin McLachlan. Regan competed in Delhi in 2010, finishing fourth on floor. Her target this time around is to make the apparatus finals on her two strongest pieces: floor and vault.

While hesitant about getting too carried away, a place on the podium has crossed her mind. "To win any colour of medal would be amazing," she says. "I wouldn't mind which one. My main goal is to make a final for floor or vault. I can't wait to get out there and show what I can do."

Her coach Richardson modestly bats away any credit for his role in Regan's accomplishments and insists "a monkey could have made her a champion" when it comes to her gymnastics finesse. "Just open the door of the gym and send her in," he says. "Amy has a terrific work ethic. I actually struggle to keep her out of the gym to be honest. She would be in here seven days a week, round the clock if you would let her."

For the past year, Regan has been working closely with Kate Goodyear, a psychologist who has a key role with the British Winter Olympic team, who has taught her how to apply The Chimp Paradox method founded by Dr Steve Peters. The mind management programme has been successfully used by elite athletes such as Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, allowing them to conquer fears and apply greater control, focus and confidence to their sporting careers and lives.

"Kate has taught me to focus on the things I can control and to ignore those I can't," she said. "It's about being able to cope with pressure, especially in the build-up to the Games when that is going to be phenomenal.

"The technique has already helped a lot in training when things perhaps aren't going as well as I would like them to. I'm able to tell myself that it's OK, take a step back and rescue the situation. It's made a huge difference. I'm much calmer and able to take things in my stride. I've nicknamed my chimp Dora."

Regan smiles when asked how Dora - what many of us would view as our inner voice of doubt or fear - is dealing with the building pressure of Glasgow 2014. "She was really active when I was coming back from injury and kept telling me: 'You are going to hurt yourself', so I had to work on that," she says. "We have planned for the Games making sure that I'm on top of everything. The more confident I'm getting, the quieter and more settled she is."

She is aware that some might view the method as a kooky, but insists it has transformed her approach to training, competing and life in general. "It helps that my coach Sandy also does chimp management," says Regan. "His chimp is called Danny, so Sandy understands how it works and knows the right things to say, but also when to back off and let Dora and I talk it out. He doesn't worry or think: 'Oh my God, my gymnast is thinking crazy things and talking to herself.'

"It's definitely going to be useful in preparing for the Games. No matter what happens I'll have a plan in place so I'm not going to be thrown off. Something Kate always says to me, which I really like, is that at the end of the day I'm just prancing about in a leotard. That always helps put things into perspective."