A YOUNG gymnast who was told to retire after breaking his thumb has defied all the odds to get back into sport.

Now Mark Freeman, 19, plans to take up a scholarship at an American university in an attempt to become a future Olympic champion - possibly in four years' time.

He said: "I'm determined not to give up. Competing at the Olympics is every athlete's dream."

Mark, a former Bury Grammar School pupil, broke his thumb when a bar snapped in training four years ago. He later had to have an operation on his wrist and doctors advised him to retire because his bones had become brittle, possibly because of his earlier injury.

But he was determined not to give up and in 2002 he became the first British gymnast to win gold at a junior European championship.

Then he was picked to represent Britain at the world championships in California last year.

He was one of the youngest ever athletes in the team and got Britain's joint highest score with 9.6 on the rings. Now Mark, who is recovering from an operation on his elbow, faces the biggest decision of his life. He must decide whether to go to Michigan University, Illinois, Penn State University in Pennsylvania or the University of California's Berkeley campus.

The head coach at Berkeley wants him there so much that he has applied for a government grant so he can offer him a full scholarship. All three universities have offered him expenses-paid recruitment trips.

Mark said: "I love gymnastics and I'm quite a strong person. Going to America would be a great opportunity. I'd love to compete at the Olympics one day and I'd love to get established in the States as well. You can do anything if you're determined enough."

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