Alice Upcott

Alice Upcott (born 14 February 1998) is a retired British female acrobatic gymnast and the sister of Edward Upcott, world champion in 2010.[1] With Dominic Smith, she was awarded the gold medal in the 2013 World Games,[2] the gold medal at the 2013 Acrobatic Gymnastics European Championships[3] and the silver medal in the 2014 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships.[4]

Alice Upcott
Alice Upcott and Dominic Smith at the 2014 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships.
Personal information
Full name	Alice Poppy Rebekah Upcott
Country represented	United Kingdom
Born	14 February 1998
Residence	Egham
Discipline	Acrobatic gymnastics
Level	International
Years on national team	2009-2014
Club	Spelthorne School of Gymnastics Heathrow Gymnastics Club
Head coach(es)	Neil Griffiths
Assistant coach(es)	Andrew Griffiths
Retired	July 2014
Medal record Acrobatic gymnastics Representing  Great Britain World Games 2013 Cali Mixed Pair World Championships 2012 Orlando Florida Mixed Pair 2014 Levallois-Perret Mixed Pair European Championships 2009 Vila Do Conde Mixed Pair 2011 Bulgaria Mixed Pair 2013 Odivelas Mixed Pair

Alice Upcott at the 2014 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships.

Upcott was a member of spelbound, the gymnastic group who rose to fame in 2010, winning the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent.[5][6][7] The prize was £100,000 and the opportunity to appear at the 2010 Royal Variety Performance. Her older brother, Edward is a former member of Spellbound and 2010 World Champion, 2012 world silver medalist and 2008 world bronze medalist in Men's pair, while her younger brother Adam is the 2012 World Junior Champion and 2016 world bronze medalist in Men's Group.

Personal life

Alice Poppy Rebekah Upcott is the second to last youngest out of five siblings. Upcott was born and raised in Egham, Surrey by her parents. When she was just two years old, she decided she wanted to try out gymnastics after her older brother, Edward began training and competing in the sport. From then on, she followed in his footsteps. Upcott joined the acrobatic gymnastic elite group at Spelthorne School of Gymnastics in the summer of 2008. In 2009, she began her competing as an 11-16 mixed pair with Christopher Longley. Upcott and Longley won the British Championships in 2009 and the European Championships later that year. In 2010, Upcott moved with her coaches Neil and Andrew Griffiths to Heathrow School of Gymnastics.

In 2011, Upcott competed at the European Championships in Bulgaria, this time as a junior (12-18) mixed pair with Dominic Smith. They won a bronze medal in the dynamic discipline and finished with a silver medal overall. In 2012, Upcott and Smith won the British Championships before competing at the World Championships in Orlando Florida where they won a silver medal. In 2013, Upcott and Smith moved to the senior level in acrobatic gymnastics. They won the British Championships before competing at the World Games in Cali where they were crowned World Games Champions. Later on in the year they also gained the title of European Champions at the European Championships in Odivelas.

In 2014, Upcott and Smith maintained the title of British Champions. In the April, whilst still competing as an acrobatic gymnast, Upcott began rehearsals with Michael Flatley's[8] Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games where she recreated the role of The Little Spirit. This lead her to perform in Trafalgar Square[9] for West End Live. Both Upcott and Smith then competed at their final competition in July in Paris at the World Championships before they both retired finishing with a silver medal behind Russia.

In September 2014, Upcott performed her first ever show with Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games at the London Palladium where she did a two-month run before a two-month tour around Europe to finish off the year. In March 2015, Upcott continued with the show at the Dominion Theatre for five months before her final three-month tour with the show. Upcott finished performing with Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games in December 2015. Upcott is now currently training in Contemporary Dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where she will graduate in Summer 2021.

References

1. "Alice Upcott profile". British Gymnastics. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
2. "The acrobatic gymnastics newsletter" (PDF). International Federation of Gymnastics. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
3. "Results" (PDF). European Union of Gymnastics. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
4. "Results of the 2014 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships" (PDF). International Federation of Gymnastics. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
5. "Prepare to be gobsmacked". The Press and Journal. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2012. Over 19million TV viewers flinched as they watched Edward Upcott soar over the heads of Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell.
6. Millar, Paul (5 June 2010). "Spelbound win 'Britain's Got Talent'". London: Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 June 2010. Having been the bookies' favourite for most of the series, the gymnast troupe beat comic dance duo Twist & Pulse.
7. "Gymnast troupe Spelbound win Britain's Got Talent". BBC News. 5 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010. Judge Simon Cowell said "the right boys and girls won on the night". He likened Spelbound's routine to an Olympic gold medal-winning performance and said it was one of the most astonishing things he had ever seen on live TV.
8. Michael Flatley
9. Trafalgar Square

External links

Media related to Alice Upcott at Wikimedia Commons

• Alice UPCOTT at the International Gymnastics Federation