British gymnast back to fight for 2012 medal

Daniel Keatings has claimed he is in better shape now than when he won silver in the all-around at the 2009 world championships as he targets a medal at the London Games. Speaking on Thursday, two months after helping the British men's team overcome a disappointing performance at the 2011 world championships in Tokyo to qualify for the Games at the London Prepares test event at the O2 , Keatings said he is back to his best. "In Tokyo the fitness was there. I'd come back from [a knee] injury quickly. I was fighting fit within a few months, whereas 15 years ago that would have been a career-ending injury," he said. "I was back a lot quicker than I thought but what I was lacking in Tokyo was competition experience. Once I'd got the competition experience back, I got a good result at the test event. I'm training better than ever, I've got a lot of new stuff coming in and my consistency has gone through the roof." He said he will be trying new routines at a series of competitions as he battles to secure an Olympic place. The British team's score at the O2 would have gained them third place in the world championships. Keatings, who yesterday took part in a stunt where he vaulted over Britain's Got Talent troupe Spellbound in Trafalgar Square to highlight Bupa's partnership with UK Sport, is now targeting one of five places in the Olympic team. "There were six places in the team for the test event and there are only five for the Olympics, so one person is going to have to drop out. Let alone the five or six others trying to make the team," he said. The final squad is unlikely to be announced until as close to the Games as possible, with Keatings and his rivals training six hours a day. "We'll have a few set trials in local competitions and there's the Europeans in May. The team won't be announced until four weeks before the Olympics. It keeps everyone working that little bit harder," he said. Despite the competition for places, he said that in the wake of the success at the test event, his team-mates are now "like family". Keatings, who made uncharacteristic errors on the high bar in Tokyo, where Britain finished 10th, admitted to nerves before the high-stakes competition in London – where they needed to come in the top four. "We were all disappointed and nervous as well. It's not great to say, but because of our results over the last few years we all thought we were going to make it," said Keatings, who trains with Louis Smith in Huntingdon. "We were still nervous because leading up to Tokyo everything was going right and it just went wrong on the day. The high bar was the piece that really hit us in Tokyo. It was the first piece in London, I was the first up and it was scary. But as soon as I finished my routine the relief washed over me, and from then on I knew it was going to be a good competition." The 22-year-old Keatings won silver in the all-around at the same venue in 2009 and said he is targeting an individual medal at the Games. "I am working towards the all-around, I'm working towards making the parallel bars final and the pommel horse final. The hardest thing is making the final – if you make it you've got a chance because anyone can make a mistake." He said that competing in front of 20,000 spectators at the O2 would suit him and the other British gymnasts, including the Beijing bronze medallist Smith and Daniel Purvis of Liverpool. Keatings added that he is fully recovered from the serious knee injury he suffered in 2010 and is hopeful that success this summer would continue the huge boost to the sport's profile and success in recent years. He took up gymnastics at a local club aged five because he was too young to take up kickboxing. "Back then I looked up to the Russians, the Japanese, the Chinese. Now, hopefully we've put British gymnastics on the map and people can start looking up to us lot," he said. "It's there, it's five months away. It's quite scary how quickly it's coming up. But it's exciting. With better results there's going to be expectation. But you need to rise to that expectation."