Josh Porter

Josh was inspired to take up gymnastics from a very young age. Always on the move, exploring and discovering new ways to be active and use his body, Josh was taken to his first Kinder Gym class at Woking Gymnastics Club when he was just 6-months old! Although one of the youngest, he was fascinated watching the older children running, jumping and climbing, and soon taught himself to crawl to get himself closer to the action.

At 3 years old, the Head Coach at Woking Gymnastics Club, Simon Elliott, watched Josh pulling himself up on a bar (like a chin-up!) in a pre-school gymnastics class, and exclaimed ‘I want that boy in the squad’. The rest, as they say, is history!

Initially, Josh’s key strength was his incredible strength, which enabled him to learn new skills quite easily. However, he knew that gymnastics was not just about strength and had to work hard on neatness and precision in his skills.

In his early local and regional competitions, Josh earned a number of medals and regional titles. In 2014, Josh started his elite grade journey and placed a credible 6th place.

In 2015, Josh was old enough to start competing in the English and British Championships, and in the next two years earned a silver medal on p-bars at the English Championships, and a bronze medal on high bar at the British Championships.

Josh continued to perform consistently well at the elite grade competitions in Birmingham and was invited to trial for the GB Development Squad at Lilleshall every year between grades 3 and 6. This consistency earned Josh a place in the England squad in 2018, and in 2019 was rewarded with his first international call-up representing England at the 4-nations competition held in Scotland. Josh helped the team win team gold and came a credible 4th place all-round in the U14 competition. This was a massive achievement for Josh and his personal coach, Craig Woodhams, who have worked incredibly hard together since Josh started competing from aged 9 years.

Like many others, Josh found COVID a challenging time with gymnastics, and once allowed back in the gym, spent time falling in love with the sport again. He regained his place in the England squad after some strong performances in the English and British Championships, and was awarded with his second international in 2023. Now a senior, Josh regularly faces the likes of Joe Fraser and Jake Jarman in the biggest UK competitions, and new challenges in competing at this level.

Josh is a hard working and thoughtful gymnast who has developed into a very stylish performer. His favourite piece is the high bar and Josh wants to focus and become an expert on this piece as he gets older. Josh’s ambitions in gymnastics is to continue progressing and achieving further international call-ups. Josh is also a massive support to his two younger brothers, and continues to inspire their development in the sport that Josh led them both into.