GYMNASTICS: Britain’s Alice Kinsella is aiming for a rare return to elite competition as a mother

Kinsella does not want to put a time stamp on her return but hopes to make a “full return” by the end of 2026, with the world championships taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in October.

Next year’s world championships in China are a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and come after a busy summer for the sport with the European Championships and Commonwealth Games within weeks of each other.

“I’m taking things day by day right now, but everything is moving in the right direction,” Kinsella said. “I feel very positive about it.

“If you come back before then [Worlds]”That’s great, but if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be so nervous.”

“Our biggest challenge right now is actually holding her back a little bit,” senior conditioning coach Young said.

“She’s making huge gains. Probably faster than we expected, but maybe this is a tribute to the elite athlete that she is,” he added.

Young hopes Kinsella “will be a pioneer for other gymnasts to return to elite sport, or any other physical sport” after giving birth.

Trampoline gymnast Laura Gallagher, who Young also worked with, is the only other Briton to return to gymnastics after giving birth.

Few women around the world returned to the sport before the 2000s, and Russia’s Aliya Mustafa made it happen after the millennium – although she never competed in another Olympics after sustaining numerous injuries.

British Gymnastics is working closely with Dr Julie Goodrick, who is leading the research at the University of Kent for a paper entitled ‘Return to sport after giving birth: a case study of an elite gymnast’.

“For female athletes, mid-career maternity leave is still not normal, and there is a real lack of research into best practices for returning to sport after giving birth,” Dr Goodrick told BBC Sport.

“The research team from Kent will track Kinsella’s data as she moves towards a return to competition, with the aim of providing a successful example of a comprehensive approach to returning to elite sport.

“We will track physical testing data, including jumping tests, trunk capabilities and force production, as well as tracking changes over time in other aspects such as sleep, hormonal profiles via blood tests, and psychological factors.

“This comprehensive approach may allow us to provide key time points in the return to sport process to ensure Kinsella firstly receives the best possible support throughout this process and, secondly, to help guide other practitioners through this process in the future.”