Claire Martin (gymnast)

Martin made her international debut at the International Gymnix in Montreal where she placed thirty-third in the all-around and fifth on the balance beam.[2] She competed at the Junior European Championships and finished seventh with the French team.[3] She won the all-around bronze medal at the French Junior Championships.[1]

Martin began her season by becoming French junior champion on the floor exercise and finishing second in the all-around and on the balance beam.[1] A few months later, she competed in a friendly meet against Romania where she took silver in the all-around and bronze on the floor exercise.[4] She then competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in the Netherlands. She finished fourth in the team competition and won the bronze medal on the balance beam.[5] At the end of the summer, she decided to leave her training center in Dijon to join INSEP in Paris. In September 2013, Martin won the all-around bronze medal at the National Cup in Mouilleron-le-Captif. She also finished fourth in the team competition, seventh in the all-around, and fifth on the balance beam at the Élite Gym Massilia in Marseille.[6]

At her first senior competition, Martin finished fifth in the all-around at the French Championships.[7] She then competed at a friendly meet against Romania and Belgium and helped the French team finish second.[8] At the European Championships, she qualified for the balance beam final, but she crashed her double back dismount and finished in seventh place.[9][10] She competed at a friendly meet against the Netherlands and Austria and helped the French team finish second.[11] At the end of the season, Martin was selected to compete at the World Championships in Nanning, China where the French team finished thirteenth.[12] She ended her season at the Élite Gym Massilia where she won the gold medal on the balance beam, finished twelfth on the all-around and sixth on the floor exercise.[13][14]

Martin on the balance beam at the 2015 European Championships.

Martin finished second on the balance beam and the floor exercise and fifth in the all-around at the French Championships in Rouen.[15] At the Doha World Cup, she finished eighth on the floor exercise.[16] She was selected for the European Championships in Montpellier where she finished thirteenth in the all-around and won the bronze medal on the balance beam behind Andreea Munteanu and Becky Downie.[17] [18] She then competed at two friendly meets- first against Romania where the French team finished second and then against Spain which France won.[19][20] She was then selected to compete at the World Championships in Glasgow alongside Marine Brevet, Loan His, Anne Kuhm, Valentine Pikul, and Louise Vanhille, and they placed tenth.[21] She finished her season at the Élite Gym Massilia where she finished sixth on the balance beam.[22]

Martin's final competition was the 2016 French Championships where she only competed on the balance beam and floor exercise- failing to qualify for either event final.[23] She retired in January 2017 due to various injuries following the 2015 World Championships.[24]