Reiss Beckford
Reiss Beckford is a Jamaican gymnast. Prior to 2015, Beckford competed for England and Great Britain.
Career
In October 2010 he was part of the team that won the silver medal for Commonwealth [Games England|England] in the gymnastics in the Gymnastics at the [2010 Commonwealth Games – Men's artistic team all-around|men's artistic all-around team event] at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He also won the silver medal in the Gymnastics at the 2010 [Commonwealth Games – Men's artistic individual all-around|men's individual all-around] event and a silver medal in the men's floor event at the same games.Born in England with a Jamaican father, Beckford announced his decision to switch allegiance to Jamaica, a move considered likely to increase his chances of qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
Beckford competed at the 2015 World [Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2015 World Gymnastics Championships] in Glasgow. He and his two teammates were the first Jamaican men to do this. He did not qualify for any finals but placed high enough to qualify a Jamaican man to the Rio Test Event in April 2016 to try to qualify for the Olympic Games. However Beckford was unable to take this place at the qualifying event himself because the rules state a gymnast must not have competed for another country in the past three years. Beckford last represented Great Britain in 2014.