A gymnast with ties to the coast has landed a medal at the European championships - four years after suffering a career-threatening injury.

Giarnni Regini-Moran, 22, born in Great Yarmouth and raised in Lowestoft, was competing at the event in Basel in Switzerland on Sunday (April 25) when he won bronze at the men's vault final.

He said: "It's been a long road to get back here. At first I didn't think I'd even be able to do gymnastics again."

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Giarnni Regini-Moran (right) won a bronze medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Basel on Sunday (April 25).Giarnni Regini-Moran (right) won a bronze medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Basel on Sunday (April 25). (Image: © Simone Ferraro)

In July 2016, just before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he snapped his knee ligaments, tore his hamstring and fractured his leg after falling from the high bar while training.

"I recovered from the knee injury within a year, but it wasn't until the second year I started to trust my knee again. That was the hardest thing," he said.

He also snapped his ankle after returning to training.

"It has been a long, long road. Sometimes I forget that I've even been through it at all, because it was four to five years ago.

"I've had to play a lot of catch-up," he added.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Giarnni Regini-Moran, 22, who was born in Great Yarmouth, won a bronze medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Basel on Sunday (April 25).Giarnni Regini-Moran, 22, who was born in Great Yarmouth, won a bronze medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Basel on Sunday (April 25). (Image: © Simone Ferraro)

His bronze, which he won with a triple twisting Tsukahara to score 14.766, is his first major championship medal as a senior gymnast.

He said: "For all of us, it was the first competition back since the Covid pandemic, so it was good just to be back out there.

"We have had in-house competitions, but nothing can replace how it feels to be out there at the European championships, just to be out there, to feel the nerves.

"I love the vault because it's quick and it's explosive, it's done within 30 seconds," he added.

As a boy, Mr Regini-Moran attended Gunton Primary School and Ormiston Denes Academy in Lowestoft, before his family moved to Dartford in Kent and later to Manchester.

At the European Junior Championships in 2016, he won gold at both the all-around and floor events, but missed out on most of 2017 due to his injuries, before returning to grab a silver medal at the European games in Minsk in 2019.

This Saturday (May 1), he will compete in a trial for the Tokyo Olympics before the team is announced later next month

"Fingers crossed it will go well," he said.