Going for Gold

This chapter has been prompted by Lydia and her request was A sort of spin off from chapter 9, You Leave Me Spelbound, though this time Jason is performing at Olympics for the first time with his gymnastic team

I've had to take a little artistic license for this story to work, so if someone out there is reading this, and is a big gymnastics fanatic (heheh), please note that I do already know that acrobatic gymnastics sport isn't actually an Olympic event, but in this story, it now is!

Happy reading

Jason Roscoe had been an acrobatic gymnast since he was six years old. It was a sport he loved, a passion really, and over the years he had entered many a competition, walking away with gold more than once.

Even though he had won many prestigious awards throughout his teenage years, a lot in national competitions, Jason had easily kept his anonymity. Not a lot of people kept up with gymnastic competitions like they did with the football, and anyone likely to recognise him, only did so because they had been in the same competition as he had.

That had all changed when he had moved to Chester and joined the local gym class. The other students in his band, thirteen avid athletes from the ages of 12 to 24 were all good like he was, and consisted of many competition winning groups. So confident with their skills, the Spelbound troupe had applied for Britain's Got Talent in 2010, going on to win the competition, voted as such by millions of viewers.

After that, Jason's life had changed, it wasn't anything huge, but a lot of people did recognise him in the streets now, (he had been thrown across the judges table in the finals, that was to be expected), though after a few months even that died down.

But Britain's Got Talent had done a lot for his gymnastics career, securing him a competitive place in the Gymnastic World Championships with his team of three others, also members of Spelbound and his greatest friends, securing a gold medal, and firmly getting his name on the map.

Time passed, and acrobatic gymnastics was slowly becoming a wider known sport, with more elite sporting competitions opening up its doors to it, something Jason was more than happy about.

The most notable occasion however, was when it was announced that the 2012 London Olympics were going to officially let Acrobatic Gymnastics become a proper sporting competition for the first time ever. Jason jumped at the chance to enter with his team, Jonathan, Adam and Alex, hoping that they could once more wow the crowd like they had done at the world championships two years previously.

There was another reason why all four lads were so determined to enter the Olympics, because they knew it would be their only chance to compete in the highly coveted sporting competition. At eighteen years, Jason was nearing his retirement age for gymnastics, and would be well over the age limit when the next Olympics came round in four years time, a similar story for the rest of his team.

It was a sad thought, knowing that he was no longer going to be able to compete in world wide competitions, but Jason knew it had to be done. His body had reached its 'peak' when he was competing for Britain's Got Talent, meaning he was now on the wrong side of the scale. Gymnastics had been his life for so long, and the teen couldn't imagine ever being able to live without it, but in other ways, he was kind of looking forward to being a normal person, without the early morning training sessions or the strained muscles.

But that was not something on Jason's mind currently as he scrabbled for his ringing phone, answering it with a nervous breath, ignoring the look of amusement Robbie shot his twin for practically launching across the table to reach his mobile.

The amusement was quickly wiped off of Robbie's face, to be replaced by confusion and concern as Jason practically began screaming after hanging up. "I got in! I'm on the official Olympics team!"

Robbie was stunned into silence for a moment, half wishing the rest of the family was around to see this moment too, they'd sure know what to say at least, but internally glad he was the only one present, the only one to share this amazing moment with his twin.

"Are you serious?" he eventually asked, because although Jason's reaction was pointing to the fact that this was the truth and nothing else, it was simply too difficult to process that something this amazing would be happening to his brother.

"Yeah, that was one of the organisers. They said our team would be really good publicity for the sport because we're really well known," Jason said, reciting what the kindly woman on the other end of the line had said to him not even a minute ago, barely able to speak coherently, too wired to process anything. "I'm going to the freaking Olympics!"

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After that moment Jason and his team began training more than they had ever done in the past. Hours were spent in the gym, working on their technique to make their routine the best it could ever be. Jason didn't think he had ever been worked so hard, and was only glad he had finished with school the year before, because the thought of juggling A-levels and an Olympic performance that just had to be good enough for a gold medal was enough to make Jason want to curl into a ball and cry for the rest of his life.

In fact, even without the stresses of school, Jason still wanted to lock himself away and never come out, because preparing himself for the Olympics was completely off the scale when comparing it to what he had done in the past.

He had thought it had been crazy getting ready for the World Championships, the stress of preparing for that had almost made him want to throw in the towel, but Olympic preparation was so much more intense.

So determined to do well at the actual event, the four lads had to back out when Spelbound was approached to perform as a team at the opening ceremony, because whilst it would truly be an amazing experience, with their competition only a day later, they couldn't waste time learning a whole other performance, nor risk any potential injuries.

Their coach Neil had agreed to the team's ideas, knowing exactly why they were doing it, and seeing it as a good chance to test the five new members of Spelbound that had been recently recruited to replace all the retiring gymnasts.

"You'll all be performing with us at the Closing Ceremony though!" he had yelled as the team left the gym that day, realising just how bittersweet this whole affair was going to be, he had watched most of these boys train from a young age, so to see them walking away with medal after medal made him almost burst with pride.

In fact, Neil had almost done just that when he had heard his boys were officially competing for Great Britain in the Olympics, though his good mood had lowered when he realised this would be the last time they ever competed, and he so wanted them to be successful, each and every single one of the deserved to walk away with gold.

"Medal or not, that's your last time to perform with the group. These Olympics better not have given you swollen heads, we need you there boys!"

"Yes coach," the team all chorused as they left the gymnasium, wide grins painted on all their faces as the realisation hit that in just over a week they'd be performing for millions of people, aiming to get the best achievement possible, and instead of being nervous, like a lot of the other athletes were, Jason knew he and his team were just excited to perform, to show the world what they could do, because they knew they were good at gymnastics, and they knew they could do this, they just had to stay focused.

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"I can't believe it, can't believe we're here," Jason said with a shaky breath as he checked his hair in the mirror for the final time, the crowd's cheers from outside as another team competed doing nothing to calm his nerves.

"Well believe it J," Adam said with a grin, clasping his hand onto the younger lad's shoulder and squeezing tight. "And we're up next, so if you're going to be sick like it looks like, do it now because there's no more time."

"No I'm fine," Jason nodded, mentally running over the routine for the millionth time that day. It was crazy to think he was here, in the Olympic Arena, getting ready to compete with his team along with other world class acts. He didn't even care about winning any more, Jason just wanted to go out there and do as well as he possibly could.

The sudden increase in volume of the crowd's cheering signalled that the previous team had just finished competing, and the four boys, all competing for Great Britain and hoping to do their country proud, held their breath, exchanging nervous looks when the adjudicator called them out.

The cheering that came from all sides of the arena was almost deafening, but Jason realised he mush preferred it over the quiet hush that soon filled the area as he and his team got ready to perform.

But he couldn't let that spook him, Jason had a job to do, and he was determined to do as such. This was his one and only chance to prove to the world why acrobatic gymnastics should have been included in the Olympics years ago. This was the hardest routine he had ever performed, but Jason knew that with his team behind him, it could very well happen.

And happen it did.

Double twists.
Pikes.

Lifts.

Balances.

The team did it all and more, the surrounding crowd cheering louder and louder after every trick, completely blown away by all that they were seeing in front of their very own eyes. And by the time the four gymnasts had finished, every single person in the stadium were on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse as they showed their support.

It was a better reaction than Jason had ever hoped for, and as he made his way back to the bench with the others, gasping for some water as his gym clothes stuck uncomfortably to his body due to all the sweat that was now coating his skin, he realised his really didn't care about winning, or hell even getting a medal, because this reaction, well it would be all he ever needed.

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"In third place for the men's team," one of the judges said into a microphone as all the teams and the crowd waited with bated breath. "Is China's team of Xue Wangxin, Fang Sheng, Zhao Yuchao and Han Yuliang."

The team headed to the podium with great smiles, taking their rightly deserved medal with a cheery thanks, leaving only two places left on the stand and six more teams vying for a place.

"In second place is Russia's Artur Avakyan, Yuriy Gerasimov, Grigoriy Sergienko and Konstantin Stetsenko."

The second placed team made their way over to the centre of the arena, leaving the remaining gymnasts feeling even more uncomfortable. It was almost impossible to guess who was going to come first, every other team had been so amazing, though if Jason had to hazard a guess, he would put a bet on the American team, their double front flip was something to be admired.

Getting ready to congratulate his successors, Jason almost missed the judge's next announcement, just almost. "And in first place is... Great Britain's team of Jason Roscoe, Adam McAssey, Alex Uttley and Jonathan Stranks."

No-one said anything for a moment, but then Jason was rushing to the middle of the arena with the rest of his team-mates, yelling and cheering loudly as he felt the gold medal being pressed into the palm of his hand.

They had done it! They had really done it, their little old team from the centre of Chester had won the Olympics, and Jason realised with a smile, it was the best way possible to bow out of the sport, because this memory was never going to leave, nor this happiness.

Next Chapter - Jason isn't the innocent virgin people assume he is, in fact when he arrives at Hollyoaks village he's a father of one, with his baby's mother long since gone from the scene. He may still be at school, but he loves his child dearly, though it's not always easy looking after her – prompted by Cburns1995 and Lydia