Latalia Rene Bevan (born 26 January 2001) is a Welsh retired

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. She won a silver medal on the floor exercise at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. She is a six-time Northern European Championships gold medalist.

Early life

Bevan was born on 26 January 2001 in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

. She began gymnastics when she was six years old. She attended

Whitchurch High School Whitchurch High School () is a large, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in the suburb of Whitchurch in Cardiff, Wales. Organisation and structure The school is currently the largest in Wales (according to the school's last Esty ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Gymnastics career

Bevan won the junior all-around title at the 2014 Welsh Championships. She finished 19th in the all-around at the

2014 International Gymnix The 2014 International Gymnix competition was a competition held in Montreal, Canada in early March 2014 (from March 6 to March 9). It was the 23rd edition of the International Gymnix. The nations that had placed in the top 16 places in the 2011 W ...

and qualified for the balance beam final, where she finished sixth. She then helped the Welsh team win the gold medal at the 2014 Northern European Championships and also won the balance beam gold medal. Bevan won the silver medal in the junior all-around at the 2015 Welsh Championships behind Maisie Methuen. She participated in the 2015 Northern European Championships, winning gold medals in the team, individual all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise. She won the all-around title at the 2016 UK School Games and helped Wales win the team event. She then helped Wales win the team event at the 2016 Junior Commonwealth Championships, and she also won the silver medal on the uneven bars. At the 2017 British Championships, Bevan won a silver medal on the balance beam She won the all-around title at the 2018 Welsh Championships. She then placed ninth in the all-around at the 2018 British Championships. Bevan was selected to represent

Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Wales competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to April 15, 2018. It is Wales's 21st appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930. Swimmer Jazz Carlin ...

. The Welsh team finished fourth in the team competition. Individually, Bevan qualified for the all-around final and finished sixth. She then finished eighth in both the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

and balance beam finals. Then in the floor exercise final, she won the silver medal by only 0.033 behind Australia's Alexandra Eade. After the Commonwealth Games, Bevan tore her Achilles tendon. By the time she was ready to return to competition, the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

had canceled all competitions. She ultimately decided to retire in January 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Latalia 2001 births Living people Welsh female artistic gymnasts British female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales Gymnasts at the 2015 European Games Sportspeople from Merthyr Tydfil Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists in gymnastics