Gymnast Claudia Fragapane hopes Strictly training will help her 2020 Olympic bid

Strictly Come Dancing star Claudia Fragapane has said she hopes her experience on the show will help her score an Olympic medal in 2020.

The gymnast competed in Rio in 2016 and said she hopes her training on the dancefloor will give her the extra edge in Tokyo in four years.

She said: "Hopefully! Any medal will do! I'm taking all this experience. I've grown from this and I have been loving it.

"I have a new floor routine and I am trying to add stuff I have learned."

Fragapane, who is paired with professional dancer AJ Pritchard, danced the Paso Doble to Shut Up And Dance by Walk The Moon on Saturday night.

She said performing the Latin dance gave her the chance to use the "stern face" she dons for her gymnastic routines and added: "I just want to take all this experience and put it in my gymnastics, I want to go on to 2020."

Her athletic background has helped protect her from injuries during rehearsal, although she is not immune to aches and pains.

She said: "I'm feeling really good, you get aches in your muscles and in your arms from holding in a position.

"I'm not as ripped and strong as I was at the Olympics now, I've not lost any weight but I have lost some muscle."

Gymnastics training has also made criticism from the judges easier to handle.

"As a gymnast you get criticism so I take it on board and work on it. That makes us stronger," she said.

Advertisement