Jessica Castles

Jessica Castles (born 16 July 2002) is a Swedish-British artistic gymnast who represents Sweden in international competitions. She is the 2019 European Games floor exercise bronze medalist and the 2018 Swedish national champion.

Jessica Castles
Full name	Jessica Castles
Country represented	Sweden
Born	(2002-07-16) 16 July 2002 West Surrey, England
Residence	Fleet, Hampshire
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior Elite
Years on national team	2017–Present (SWE)
Club	Eskilstuna Gymnastikforening (SWE) Heathrow Gymnastics Club (GBR)
College team	Arizona Wildcats (2021–24)
Head coach(es)	Michele Walduck
Medal record Women's artistic gymnastics Representing  Sweden European Games 2019 Minsk Floor Exercise Nordic Championships 2018 Farum All-Around 2018 Farum Balance Beam 2018 Farum Floor Exercise 2018 Farum Team

Early life

Castles was born in West Surrey, England in 2002 to a British father and a Swedish mother. She grew up in Qatar where she began gymnastics at the age of 3.[1][2]

Gymnastics career

Junior

2016–17

Castles competed at the 2016 English Championships where she placed 35th in the all-around.[3] In 2017 Castles began competing at both British and Swedish domestic competitions and decided to represent Sweden in international competitions. In April she competed at the English Championships where she placed 11th in the all-around but recorded the second highest floor exercise score amongst juniors.[4] The following month she competition at a team selection competition for the 2017 Junior Nordic Championships where she placed second in the all-around behind Tonya Paulsson but recorded the highest floor exercise score.[5] At the Junior Nordic Championships Castles helped Sweden finish in third place. Individually she finished ninth in the all-around and won gold on floor exercise ahead of Camille Rasmussen of Denmark.[6] In June she competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge where she helped Sweden finish ninth as a team and individually she placed 18th in the all-around.[7]

In late June Castles competed at her first Swedish National Championships where she won bronze in the all-around behind Ida Staafgård and Paulsson, gold on vault and floor exercise, and silver on balance beam behind Staafgård.[8] She next represented Sweden at the European Youth Olympic Festival where she helped Sweden finish twentieth as a team. Castles next competed at the Rushmoor Rosebowl where she placed seventh in the all-around and second on floor exercise behind Emily Thomas.[9] She ended the season competing at the Top Gym Tournament where she finished sixth in the all-around, first on balance beam, and second on floor exercise behind Amelie Morgan.[10]

Senior

2018

Castles turned senior in 2018. She competed at the British Championships as a guest and finished in fourth place amongst the other guests.[11] In June Castles competed at the Nordic Championships where she helped Sweden finish second behind Norway. Individually she won gold in the all-around, on balance beam, and on floor exercise.[12] She next competed at the Swedish National Championships where she placed first in the all-around, on balance beam, and on floor exercise. Castles was selected to represent Sweden at the European Championships. While there she qualified to the floor exercise final where she finished seventh.[13] She next competed at the Paris Challenge Cup where she qualified to the balance beam final and finished in seventh place. Castles was selected to represent Sweden at the 2018 World Championships in Doha. During qualifications she finished 47th in the all-around and 39th on floor exercise; she did not qualify for any event finals.

2019

Castles competed at the English Championships as a guest where she won silver in the all-around behind club teammate and Jamaican national team member Danusia Francis.[14] She next competed at the British Championships and won gold in the all-around[15] Castles was once again selected to represent Sweden at the European Championships; she finished fourteenth in the all-around.[16] She next competed at the European Games. During qualifications she finished 24th in the all-around and did not qualify for the final; however she qualified to the floor exercise final in third place. During event finals she matched her placement and won the bronze behind Anastasia Bachynska of the Ukraine and Aneta Holasová of the Czech Republic.[17]

In September Castles competed at the British Team Championships where she placed fourth in the non-squad division.[18] Castles was selected to represent Sweden at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. During qualifications she finished 89th in the all-around and did not qualify for the finals, nor did she qualify as an individual to the 2020 Olympic Games due to compatriot Jonna Adlerteg placing higher than her.

In October Castles announced that she would compete in NCAA gymnastics with the Arizona Wildcats, starting in the 2020–21 school year.[19]

Competitive history

Junior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2016	English Championships		35
2017	English Championships		11
	Nordic Championships		9
	FIT Team Challenge	9	18
	Swedish Championships
	European Youth Olympic Festival	20
	Rushmoor Rosebowl		7
	Top Gym Tournament	10	6

Senior

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2018	Nordic Championships
	Swedish Championships
	European Championships						7
	Paris Challenge Cup					7
2019	English Championships (guest)
	British Championships (guest)
	European Championships		14
	European Games
	British Team Championships (non-squad)		4

References

1. "Jessica Castles FIG profile". FIG.
2. Johnson, Anna Rose (July 26, 2019). "Sweden's Jessica Castles: "I Am Hoping to Qualify to the Olympics"". Inside Gymanstics.
3. "2016 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. March 19, 2016.
4. "2017 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. April 7, 2017.
5. "2017 Swedish Junior Selection Results". The Gymternet. May 7, 2017.
6. "2017 Nordic Junior Championships Results". The Gymternet. May 20, 2017.
7. "2017 FIT Challenge Results". The Gymternet. June 13, 2017.
8. "2017 Swedish Championships Results". The Gymternet. June 30, 2017.
9. "2017 Rushmoor Rosebowl". British Gymnewstics. October 22, 2017.
10. "2017 Top Gym Tournament Results". The Gymternet. November 29, 2017.
11. "2018 British Championships". British Gymnastics. March 11, 2018.
12. "2018 Nordic Championships Results". The Gymternet. July 6, 2018.
13. https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2018/euros/documents/wag/senaf4fx.pdf
14. "2019 English Championships Results". The Gymternet. March 5, 2019.
15. "Gymnastics British Championships 2019". British Gymnastics.
16. "8th European Men's And Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics All-around Final" (PDF). European Union of Gymnastics. April 12, 2019.
17. "MINSK 2019 2nd EUROPEAN GAMES Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Final Women" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. June 30, 2019.
18. "2019 British Team Championships Results". The Gymternet. September 15, 2019.
19. "Arizona Gymnastics Welcomes Six to the Class of 2024". Arizona Wildcats. December 2, 2019.

External links

• Jessica Castles at the International Gymnastics Federation