The 25-year-old, who is a three-time Commonwealth gymnastics champion for England, gave birth to son September last year and while many in her position may have taken an extended break from the sport, or potentially even retired Kinsella had other plans.

In March, less than seven months since giving birth to son Parker, she made her competitive return at the Artistic Gymnastics British Championships in Liverpool, placing an impressive fourth in the Beam final, just 0.050 points short of the podium.

“I started training about four weeks (post-partum), but it wasn’t full training, just the basics, nothing too serious and then gradually added more and more on,” reveals the Kinsella, who is also an Olympic, World and European medallist.

“I’m really happy with how it’s gone because at times I really didn’t think I would be here and especially not reaching a final (at the British Championships).

“These past couple weeks, yeah, they've been tough, but I've always loved the challenges in the run up to competition and yeah, this is definitely a big one, but I absolutely loved it and I'm excited to see how the future holds.”

Although the gymnast stopped training in disciplines such as Bars, Floor and Vault as soon as she discovered she was pregnant, due to the risk of impact landings on her stomach, Kinsella would continue with strength and conditioning workouts.

This gave her the best possible chance of making a rapid comeback to the sport possible, but the nature of her return is still so uncommon that it has become the topic for a research paper, by Dr Julie Gooderick at the University of Kent.

“Historically, female athletes very much saw having a baby as the end of their career,” states Dr Gooderick. “There just weren’t enough role models and examples of people doing it successfully and because of that we didn’t have scientific evidence to help support athletes through that journey.

“That’s now changing. There’s better infrastructure in place and the science around the return to sport post-partum is evolving.”

While new mothers returning to elite sport has become much more common over the last 15 years, with improved support as referenced by Dr Gooderick, it is still incredibly rare within the world of gymnastics and Kinsella hopes to help change perceptions.

“I’m proud to show that you don’t need to stop, that you can become a mum, comeback and just show the world what you’re made of,” she states passionately.

Kinsella, whose father Mark represented the Republic of Ireland in football, including the 2002 World Cup, is coy when asked about her potential inclusion as part of the Team England line-up at Glasgow 2026.

She has been absent from elite competition since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and knows there is not only less than four months before the next Games, but also few competitions over the coming months which would allow her to potentially state her claim for a place.

Alice Kinsella has won five Commonwealth medals (three gold, a silver and a bronze) across Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022.

Photography Commonwealth Sport

They do though hold a special place in her heart and the gymnast is keen to emphasise how much she treasures memories from her two Team England appearances, to date.

“It's everyone's dream to compete at the Commonwealths and me doing it twice, it means a lot to me,” says Kinsella.

“Obviously, I became Beam champion in Gold Coast (2018) and Floor champion in Birmingham (2022) and it’s always such a lovely competition to do.

“Hopefully I'll do it again sometime soon, but I’m just taking it day-by-day at the moment, seeing what the body says and looking forward to the future.”

 

Whether she does compete at Glasgow 2026 or not Kinsella is adamant that the atmosphere gymnastics fans will create at ‘the Arena’ which be ‘unique and magical’ for all athletes, but in particular those from Scotland.

“I think it's really important having a home crowd, because having them all behind you, like I did in Birmingham (2022), was just so incredible,” she recalls.

“Going out there and hearing people cheering your name is surreal, but a really amazing feeling and I know it will be really special for people from the home nation in particular.”

Kinsella also claimed Commonwealth Games gold as part of the England Women's Team All-Around line-up at Birmingham 2022.

Photography Commonwealth Sport

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games take place between 23 July and 2 August, with the Artistic Gymnastics programme running from 24-28 July. To find out how you can attain tickets to watch the best athletes from across the Commonwealth compete for 14 Artistic Gymnastics medals, CLICK HERE.