BLÁTHNAID HIGGINS’ ROUTE to the European Gymnastics Championships has been about finding a way to make two demanding ambitions fit together.

While fellow Galwegian and Ireland team-mate Emma Slevin has lately – and very successfully – embraced the American collegiate system, Higgins has chosen to build her gymnastics career around her studies here. 

The 22-year-old has just completed her second year of physiotherapy at UCD and is hoping to qualify in 2027, all while continuing to compete at international level. 

It is a balancing act, but one Higgins is comfortable with. “To be honest, I’m just happy I’ve been able to do a degree and train at the same time because they’re both so important to me,” she said. 

“Like, you can’t do gymnastics forever, so I’m really happy that I’ve been able to balance both and have something I can fall back on after I’m finished competing.” 

Slevin was on a similar path but, after completing her science degree at UCD last year, made a last-minute decision to move to the US to join the University of Minnesota’s collegiate programme. 

It was transformative. Minnesota, ranked 13th nationally, reached the NCAA’s ‘Four on the Floor’ final four, while Slevin claimed the Big Ten uneven bars title with a score of 9.95. 

The success brought offers from other colleges and she will now move to Arkansas Razorbacks, where she will work with a coaching staff that includes Olympic gold medallist Kyla Ross. 

“Arkansas had everything and more to offer,” Slevin explained. “The coaching staff are experienced, a lot of them are Olympians and Olympic medallists and are really willing to take me down that path too. 

“Towards the end of last season, I really started to elevate and I think I can start a bit higher up at the start of the season and just keep that momentum going. 

“Minnesota was a great experience and obviously we did so well, I had an amazing year. I wouldn’t change it for the world.” 

For Higgins, however, America was never really an option. 

Bláthnaid Higgins. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“You only have a certain amount of time to go and it’s really suiting Emma, it’s really suiting Jane (Heffernan), who went on her year abroad,” she remarked. 

“They’ve loved it and it looks like a great experience, but it’s not something I think that I’d get into.” 

Instead, Higgins has made changes closer to home to make the demands of elite sport more manageable. She has joined Phoenix in Dublin, allowing her to train in one location rather than split her time between the capital and Renmore Gymnastics in Galway. 

“It’s been really helpful to have everything in one county,” she explained. “That’s helped a lot with trying to balance everything.” 

Her Ad Astra scholarship at UCD has also been important, helping her manage deadlines, exams and the demands of international competition. 

There is plenty on her plate outside the gym. Higgins has a number of physiotherapy placements scheduled for next year and is beginning to narrow down the area in which she might specialise. 

But gymnastics remains a significant part of her life, and the European Championships in Zagreb offer another opportunity to showcase what she can do. 

The target is to deliver a clean competition, with the vault potentially providing her strongest opportunity to contribute as Ireland seek to qualify for the World Championships in October. 

“We’re probably closer than ever before to achieving the goal and I think everyone believes that as well, which makes a huge difference,” Higgins said. 

“It would be amazing, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself because it’s the training we put in and how we prepare to compete on the day that counts.” 

Experience has helped her reach that mindset. Higgins knows that competitions become easier to manage with every appearance, and she is determined not to repeat the mistakes of earlier years. 

“To qualify would be a bonus,” she says. “I let myself get a bit stressed in the past but the more competitions you do, the more experience you gain.”