Student Interview: 'I'm excited about the 2012 Olympics'
Gymnast Kieran Behan overcame injury to combine a sport science course with training.
By Kate Hilpern
Published: 10 May 2007
When budding gymnast Kieran Behan sustained a serious injury at the age of 12, doctors and psychologists told him it would be unlikely he'd ever walk again, let alone do gymnastics. Having hit the back of his head on a high bar, the young sports enthusiast was hospitalised for eight weeks and then required a further 18 months of rehab. But the childhood dream that he would one day win gold at the Olympics meant he wasn't going to give up and against the odds, Behan, now 17 years old, is combining a rigorous training regime with studying sport and exercise science at Brooklands College, Surrey in order to become an Olympic champion in the London 2012 Olympics.
Given his track record since the injury, Behan's aim is not as unrealistic as it may sound. In the last 18 months, he has collected an impressive collection of titles in countries including France, Finland, Greece, Sweden, Norway and Canada. Among his latest wins have been a gold medal in the Under 18s British Championships - where he beat 30 other hopefuls - and he also became the youngest person ever to win the Senior British Floor Championships in 2005, going on to scoop the Senior British Rings Championships last year.
The story begins when Behan was nine years old. "My mum took me to gymnastics to try to focus the large amounts of energy I had into something constructive," he laughs. "I found I thoroughly enjoyed throwing my body around and that I was pretty good at it. I had this amazing feeling I could do anything with my body, unlike in other sports like football, which didn't come nearly so naturally to me."
It wasn't long before his hobby started turning into something much more serious. "I remember watching Olympic gymnastics on the TV around that time and saying I would become an Olympic champion one day. I know I was only young, but I have never been so sure of anything and that became - and still is - my ultimate goal."
Behan's first knock-back came when he was 11 years old. "I had a tumour in my leg. They thought it was cancer and so I was quickly booked in for an operation to remove it. But the tourniquet, which is the thing that was tightened around my leg to stop the blood flowing to the area where they were operating, was supposed to be checked every two minutes and it wasn't. Because it was so tight, it wound up damaging my nerves."
Behan remembers doctors saying that he could well be in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life and indeed for the next year, he was. But a mixture of rigorous physiotherapy and sheer strength of mind meant Behan was able to get back on track.
But just a year later, by which time Behan's passion for gymnastics was once again being realised, he slipped off the high bar and landed on the back of his head, damaging the vestibular canal, which affects balance. "It meant that when I moved my eyes too fast, I would fit and then black out. My vestibular canal thought I was physically moving and my brain and body would then get all confused. It was very strange," he says.
After a few weeks, he started to show some small signs of recovery and doctors agreed that his head no longer needed to be strapped to the hospital bed. Nevertheless, they and other health professionals gave Behan a bleak prognosis, once again saying he would probably be wheelchair bound forever. "It was very frightening for my parents - probably more so than me because I never accepted these so-called experts' words of doom," says Behan. "In fact, the doctors got quite frustrated with me because they were trying to cushion the blow in the way that they told me about my chances of recovery, but I just brushed them off."
After eight weeks, Behan's optimism rubbed off on his parents, who became increasingly worried about the amount of medication that Behan was being given and they discharged him. Back in a wheelchair, Behan remembers having to spend hours doing eye exercises at home. "I had to sit at the window and watch traffic to retrain my eyes to get used to things moving fast without me fitting and blacking out. It paid off because after a few months, I was able to leave the house in my wheelchair and do basic things like go shopping with my mum."
A few months later, he progressed to using crutches and eventually he was able to get about with a walking stick. "That was when I went back to school," says Behan. "I felt at my lowest then because a couple of kids really teased me. On the other hand, in some ways I think that made me even more keen to get back to the gym, a place that I always felt safe - perhaps ironically!"
By the time he was almost 15 years old, Behan's wish was granted, although he recalls it being a case of two steps forward, one step back. "I got a lot of silly injuries, like breaking my arm and wrist because I was trying to do some of the moves I used to be able to do, when I should have been more patient. That would mean I'd have to rest for a month or two here and there, but I managed to carry on and within a year, I was starting to be selected for national squads and winning big competitions."
Having recently turned 17, Behan's talent in gymnastics is going from strength to strength - which, interestingly, he largely attributes to his decision to study a BTEC first diploma in sport and exercise science at college. "I never liked school," he admits. "But some people told me that college is completely different - that they treat you like an adult and there's more flexibility and freedom. I liked the idea of that, so I thought there would be no harm in trying it out for a year."
While Behan had already guessed he'd like the practical part of the course, he was surprised to find that he also enjoyed the theory. "I'm not the cleverest person, and I do struggle with some of the assignments," he says. "But sport is something I feel passionately about and that passion keeps me interested in what's being taught. Also, I find that the theory helps me understand the biomechanics of the way the body moves, which in turn helps me be a better gymnast."
Behan's social life has improved too. "Having missed such a lot of school and spending so much time in training means that it has been hard for me to meet new people. But at college, I've made loads of like-minded friends and that has matured me a lot, which again has helped me with my gymnastics."
Although Behan has just had to have a major wrist operation because of another injury in the gym, he still remains confident about an Olympic win. "I've been told that unless I'm careful, I could lose the use of my wrists altogether, so I am having to adjust my moves - for instance by doing my floor by tumbling on my wrist rather than landing on it," he says. "But I can still do my rings and the high bar and even with the floor, it's just a case of adapting how I move. All this does mean that I'm no longer sure about the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but 2012 isn't too far away and I'm very excited about that."
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