3) Kings Hall and Princess Royal Hall
became one building dedicated to gymnastics
with open access, thus creating one of the
finest gymnastic facilities worldwide. It was
opened on April 26, 1988, by Princess Anne
The Princess Royal.
The facilities and training aids in the new
halls were state of the art. Atkinson had spent
many years in the Soviet Union, Bulgaria,
Hungary and Poland, as well as in the leading
Western nations of Germany and France,
studying their national gymnastics facilities.
He incorporated all the ideas into the Lilleshall
facility. In 1979 he had spent six months in
the Soviet Union, sent by Olive Newson,
Sport Council GB, to study the latest training
developments in the sport.
The people involved in ensuring that this
strategy succeeded:
• Emlyn Jones: Director General Sport
Council (GB)
Details
LEFT: Coach Amanda Reddin
keeps an eye on British
champion Hannah Whelan.
BELOW: Visiting choreogra-
pher Adriana Pop works
enthusiastically with Jocelyn
Hunt.
BELOW LEFT:Canadian native
Carol-Angela Orchard gives
advice to Danusia Francis on
beam.
