A-Z of Famous Bristolians - F: Claudia Fragapane

A-Z of Famous Bristolians - F: Claudia Fragapane

Posted on: 24 Apr 2024

Next up on our A – Z of famous Bristolians is one of the most successful gymnasts in England and serial record breaker – Claudia Fragapane.

 

Last time we took a look at, perhaps, the most notorious figure in the history of Bristol, the now iconic pirate, Blackbeard – and now we’re moving from a man who stole gold, to a woman who earned it – Commonwealth gymnastics champion, Claudia Fragapane!

 

Born in 1997, Fragapane has been a Bristol resident all her life – attending St Bernadette’s for secondary school. She trained throughout the years at Bristol institution Hawks’ Gym – where she currently works as a trainer.

 

Starting her career in 2011, at just age 14, Fragapane competed in the Junior editions of the English Championships, British Championships, Isle of Man International and UK School Games – bringing home two gold medals, one silver and one bronze, as well as winning a further two more gold medals with her team.

 

 

Her senior career started at 16, in 2013, but she properly rose to prominence around 2014 for her involvement in the Commonwealth Games – in which she was the first English woman to win four gold medals in a single games in over 80 years! She went on to continue a sparkling career with appearances at all the major competitions, all while accumulating a hoard of gold that would put Mansa Musa to shame.

 

In 2015, Fragapane was part of the women's gymnastics team that won Great Britain's first-ever team medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Then, in 2016, Fragapane appeared at the Summer Olympics in Rio, where she helped the national team to achieve a respectable 5th.

During 2016, Fragapane also made her debut in another kind of competition, appearing on reality TV dance competition Strictly Come Dancing. Dancing with AJ Pritchard, they placed 4th overall of 15 couples. She also set multiple records for the show – she was the second youngest dancer ever at the time, and also the first female Olympic gymnast to appear on the show. She also appeared on series 10 of dating game show Take Me Out for a special gender role reversal – rather than having a single man pitch himself to a panel of 30 women, it was the other way around. Thus, Fragapane set another record by being the first female contestant in the history of the programme – and ended up on a date in the end.

 

 

After competing in a series of other events, Fragapane sustained a number of injuries that cut her competitions short – but never one to give up, she worked through each and returned to her previous kingdom – the 2022 Commonwealth Games. In a triumphant end to her competitive career, Fragapane took home one more gold – bringing her total of Commonwealth golds to five over her whole career.

Claudia Fragapane retired this year, 2024, in February. Speaking about her decision, Claudia said: “It feels like the right time. I’m really happy with my career, gymnastics has been my whole life for as long as I remember, but now I’m ready to flick over a new chapter.”

Fragapane now works as a trainer and choreographer via her business, Frags Gym – often collaborating with Hawks Gym to help train the young gymnasts and refine their choreography.

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Patrick Bate

Patrick is a filmmaker with so much Bristol in his blood the white blood cells are graffiti'd. Educated at the Northern Film School in Leeds, he’s returned home to be a Videographer and Reviewer for 365Bristol and BARBI. When he’s not messing about with cameras, he enjoys playing guitar, spending far too much time on tabletop RPGs, and being an awful snob about cider. Have a look at his work here, or get in touch at patrickb@365bristol.com.