Nelson-raised artistic gymnast William Fu-Allen is preparing to unleash some “secret skills” at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games later this month.
The 24-year-old contested all three disciplines – floor, pommel horse and the rings - at the 2022 games in Birmingham, but this time he is concentrating on his strongest exercise.
“I am sticking to the floor. I feel I am a little bit of a late bloomer and am coming into my best form,” says Auckland-based William, who was born in Yorkshire but moved to Nelson with his family when he was just one.
“The family was always very sporty, and I followed my older brother Sam into gymnastics as a four-year-old.”
After also becoming a national representative, Sam is in Auckland as well – a doctor at Waitakere Hospital.
William competed for Gymnastics Nelson, and after completing high school went onto Auckland University and joined the strong Tri Star Gymnastics club.
His parents still live locally, and he keeps an eye on the young gymnastics’ talent coming through in Nelson.
As he told the Nelson Weekly, as a 16-year-old, his goal was to go the Olympics.
He finished 22nd out of 42 competitors in the floor exercise in Birmingham, but a shoulder injury dashed his hopes of getting to Paris in 2024.
Now the back-to-back national champion is in great shape, and on the back of training up to 30 hours a week, he’s ready to perform on the floor.
Despite that gruelling schedule, the biology graduate is still working full-time in an Auckland lab and is considering a return to study next year.
He will go back to the North of England en route to Scotland.
It won’t be to his old village of Steeton but Newcastle, for a training camp with his six teammates, one of whom is also his coach, Misha Koudinov.
“I used to keep an eye on the competition when I was younger, but now I just concentrate on my own performance,” concludes William, who has his sights on a medal in Glasgow.
