Halle Hilton (born 10 June 2004) is a British-born artistic gymnast who represents

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in international competition. A former British junior national team member, she participated in the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

where she won a bronze in the team competition. She began representing Ireland at the senior level in 2022 and is a five-time Northern European Championships medalist. She is the 2023 Irish national all-around champion.

Early life

Hilton was born in

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

, England, on 10 June 2004 to an Irish mother. She began gymnastics when she was two years old at the Pipers Vale Gymnastics Club. She has a brother named Keenan who also represents Ireland in artistic gymnastics.

Gymnastics career

Junior

Hilton competed on the balance beam for the British team at the

and helped the team win the bronze medal behind Italy and Russia. Additionally, she qualified for the balance beam final and finished eighth. She won a bronze medal with the British team at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival, and she placed eighth in the all-around competition. She also qualified for the balance beam final and finished in fourth place, 0.100 points away from the bronze medal.

Senior

Hilton decided to switch to representing Ireland for more opportunities to compete internationally. Her nationality change was officially approved by the

International Gymnastics Federation The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...

in May 2022. She then competed at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

where she placed 38th in the all-around competition. With this result, she qualified for the 2022 World Championships. There, she finished 63rd in the all-around during the qualification round. After the World Championships, she competed at the 2022 Northern European Championships and won a bronze medal in the all-around competition. Then in the event finals, she won a gold medal on the balance beam and finished seventh on the floor exercise. Hilton competed at the 2023 European Championships and finished 54th in the all-around qualification round. With this result, she qualified for the 2023 World Championships. She then won the gold medal in the all-around at the Irish Championships. At the 2023 Paris World Challenge Cup, she finished eighth on the vault and seventh on the floor exercise. Then at the World Championships, she finished 59th in the all-around during the qualification round and did not qualify for an Olympic berth. Hilton competed at the 2024 Northern European Championships in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and helped the Irish team win the gold medal. She won a bronze medal in the all-around competition behind teammate

Emma Slevin Emma Slevin (born 2 May 2003) is an Irish artistic gymnast. She represented Ireland at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. She was the first Irish female gymnast to qualify for a senior all-around final at the European Championships and at the World ...

and Iceland's Thelma Aðalsteinsdóttir. Then in the vault final, she won another bronze medal.

References

External links