'I'd never watched the Olympics' - Evans on gymnastics fame

Ruby Evans did not appreciate the scale of what she was about to do back in the summer of 2024.

Competing at the Paris Olympics as a 17-year-old catapulted her into the spotlight.

Two years on - with a Commonwealth gold medal, 127,000 Instagram followers and almost two million likes on TikTok - the gymnast is of one of Britain's rising stars.

"I didn't actually think I'd get that many followers after the Olympics," she told BBC Sport.

"Because I was so young, I'd never really watched an Olympics. I didn't actually realise how many people watched the Olympics.

"I remember just opening my phone [after competing] and it wouldn't even turn on, there was just so much going on."

Success has required resilience. Never more so than at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

On the Sunday evening, Evans left the arena in tears after a disappointing sixth in the individual all-around competition.

On Tuesday she returned to earn Wales a historic gold in the floor final..

She said afterwards she'd turned her anger into motivation, with the proud Welsh gymnast claiming her "dragon was absolutely firing" for her gold medal-winning performance.

Social media attention can bring a dark side.

Female athletes in a range of sports have complained about the abuse they get - from rugby to tennis players.

Evans is no stranger to negative comments - but she refuses to let it affect her.

"It doesn't matter who you are, you're going to get nasty comments," she said.

"But if they're not doing anything better and they can only comment on other people's lives, then you're already winning.

"I know some people will get offended by it and that's obviously OK. I just say never show the person that you're offended because they're going to keep doing it.

"It's like bullies at school."

In a period of new faces in British gymnastics, 19-year-old Evans is well placed to become the next star of her sport.

At the Paris Olympics, she and her team-mates came agonisingly close to a medal, finishing fourth by 0.2 points in the women's team final.

She followed up her debut Olympics with a silver medal in the floor event at the 2025 World Championships.

After that gold in Glasgow, she is aiming for more success at this week's European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia - which will be live on the BBC from Saturday.

For someone who routinely sails through the air, her feet are firmly on the ground.

She says she is not driven by medals. Improving as a gymnast is her biggest motivation.

But asked if she's targeting gold at the LA 2028 Olympics, she smiles.

"Maybe," she adds. "If I'm good."

For individual success at an Olympics, she will need to showcase two vaults with different entries on to the vault.

So that is her current focus in training.

"Maybe if I get a second vault, I'd have quite a good chance," she added.

"But it's in gear two. It needs to get to gear five."

At the Europeans, Evans and her team are focusing on a strong performance in Sunday's women's team final as that will set them up for October's World Championships - and with it a chance of Olympic qualification.

As ever, there's likely to be a lot of attention on Evans - she's been showing she is someone worth keeping an eye on.