Gianna Webbe used to scare her parents so much with risky antics such as walking on high walls that they decided to put her in a gymnastics class.

The 16-year-old Warwick Academy student never looked back and has just returned to the island after competing in her first international gymnastics competition.

Gianna came 47th out of 74 competitors in the Pan Am Games qualifier in Peru earlier this month and is looking forward to preparing herself for more international contests.

She told The Royal Gazette: “The process leading up to the qualifiers was rigorous — we would finish our training at 10pm and get to bed at 11pm.

“Podium training was a new experience for me — that was training in front of your judges — you do everything as if you were competing and then the day after you have to compete.

“To put yourself through two competitions so close together was mentally draining but on the day of the competition it was good to know you were OK.

“The competition started off a bit rough but after the first event my nerves were gone so I was able to finish strong. In my subdivision, I was surrounded by Olympians and they had a lot of experience.”

Gianna has been on the Bermuda Gymnastics team for eight years but has been enjoying the sport since she was 2.

She said: “There are so many different skills you can learn so it doesn’t get boring and the environment is amazing — two days are never the same which kept it interesting.

“You need a lot of time and dedication and a willingness to do things — you can’t hold back as much.

“Strength and flexibility come with the sport but it is mostly mental — you can have all the skills in the world but if you are not there mentally, it is hard.

“I also feel that gymnastics has helped me to become more organised and I have been able to express myself more — it helped me to come out of my shell.”

Gianna is taking her International Baccalaureate, which will see her focus shift but she intends on returning to the international stage in the future.

“I put in around 20 hours a week in the gym. I am doing IB so that takes a lot of time as well. It has been hard trying to manage both of them.

“I am going to try to focus on school but when it calms down I want to look at more international competitions.

“I want to study exercise and fitness management. I am looking at universities in the UK — my first choice, the University of Portsmouth, has gymnastics as a society. I want to continue gymnastics as long as I can, maybe go into a little bit of coaching.”

Asked what advice she would give to others aspiring to balance their work with their passion, Gianna added: “Try and come up with a schedule beforehand for the week and be prepared for it to change a lot because it is not always going to go as planned.

“Leave some time to mentally come down so you are not focused on something all the time. It’s a little less stressful.”