THE room is a massive, industrial-looking, football pitch-sized space. Iron girders project from the ceiling, the floor is a nest of crash mats littered with balance-beams and vaults – and it is packed with around 150 kids.

Some of the youngsters, clad in Manchester United shirts, are swarming around in loop-the-loops. Meanwhile, older teenagers are perfecting run-ups, flinging themselves high into the air and then down, landing with barely a wobble.

We are at the Notts Gymnastic Club's base at Rushcliffe Leisure Centre. The club is currently ranked third in Great Britain, contains 10 Great Britain squad gymnasts and has produced three Olympians.

One of those is a face you may recall from 2008's Beijing Games. Then aged just 16, Becky Downie, from Hucknall, finished in an exceptional 12th place.

"That was probably the best I could have done at the time," she reflects.

Becky's hopes are high for London 2012. She'll find out if she's made the squad three months before the event.

And yet, hope hangs on a precarious thread in gymnastics. There are so many variables, as Becky knows all too keenly.

Form is one, although she's currently ranked best British all-rounder.

Fitness is another. She has had surgery on her ankles and currently has six different injuries.

And Becky's training facilities are the subject of much debate between her club and the local council, Rushcliffe, which owns the gym – which has been selected as a pre-Games training camp for 2012.

Claire Starkey, head coach at Notts Gymnastics Club, said: "This gym was built over ten years ago. It was great at the time but it needs an overhaul.

"The toilets upstairs leak on to our apparatus. Ceiling tiles need replacing. We've complained to the council.

"Becky is up against the best in the world. Athletes from China and Romania have a gym to themselves. She has to share one with 200 kids in temperatures below what office workers work in.

"We have the next generation of champions here and we're not getting the funding to support them."

Becky agrees with these sentiments. But she has to focus and have the will to keep going. She readily admits she doesn't enjoy a normal teenage social life – there are no boyfriends and she doesn't go clubbing.

"I'm not 18 so I shouldn't be clubbing anyway," she points out.

She sometimes goes to the cinema with friends on a Thursday – her one day off from a packed training schedule. She subsists on a diet of sensible things – cereal, salads and soups – livened up with the occasional treat.

But she is adamant it's all worthwhile.

"Beijing was an amazing highlight for me," she says, lighting up as she recalls the thrill of competing against the best in the world.

Becky was seven when she started gymnastics. She began running around in circles, just like the tots across the room.

She goes to Rushcliffe Comprehensive which adjoins the gym and has been coached by Claire Starkey since she was 12.

In 2008, she combined her Olympic success with six GCSEs. Now she's doing A-levels in media, biology and PE. The rest of her time is spent at the gym.

"We have to do a lot of physical conditioning," she says. "People just see the results on TV but it's a lot harder than you think. Every day I will go through the apparatus and do an hour on each piece: the beam, the bars, the floor and the vault."

Coming down to earth after the high of Beijing was tough.

"It definitely gets harder as you get older," she says, sounding world-weary for a 17-year-old. "Your bones aren't as agile. I still enjoy it but there are days when it's really hard."

She sounds tired. It's teatime on a Monday. She arrived here at 7am for three hours' training before school, then a further four hours afterwards.

Becky's gymnastics dream is made possible by the support of her family.

She is one of five – she has an older sister, Gemma, 20, two brothers, Alex, 16, and Josh, 13, and a 10-year-old sister, Ellie, who is also a gymnast. Ellie was British Champion in her age group last year.

"It's expensive," she says. "The gym fees are £70-£80 a month. We have to buy new kit – tracksuits and gym shorts – every three months. Then there's the petrol for getting here and the competition entry fees. If my mum wants to come and watch me, we have to pay for hotels and food."

Her dad has his own security business and, somehow, they find ways.

"If we start walking to London now, we might make it there in time for 2012," jokes Becky's mum, Helen, who drives her daughters to training every day.

"Becky's got so much determination and she's really driven. Even in bad weather, she just wants to get to the gym."

Alas, her parents couldn't make it out to Beijing because of the expense.

That's why London 2012 is so exciting for Becky – her family will be able to see her compete.

"It would be like a dream to get there," Becky says. "Because it's my home country, nothing will beat it." She sounds lively again.

"Gold is the dream. You never know. But there's a lot of hard work to do."

Tomorrow: Meet teenage gymnast Sam Oldham.

jennifer.scott@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk