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When Annika Louise Reeder was born on September 28th, 1979, no one suspected quite what she was capable of. When older sister Kirsty started gymnastics at 5, 3 year old Annika wanted to do it too. Living in Harlow, Essex, the Reeder girls were lucky to have one of the best gym clubs in England so close by. Run by coach Rod Smith, South Essex gymnastics in Harlow, has been home to some of the best British gymnasts to date such as Paula Thomas and Nicola Willis. Annika is undoubtedly the most successful. Coached by Rod since she was a young girl, Annika quickly progressed to the top level and began competing nationally in 1992
Annika's international gymnastics career started in 1994, where she took part in the Junior European Championships, and the World Championships in Brisbane, as well as the team World Championships in Germany. At the Junior Europeans, Annika qualified to the floor finals, which was a historic first event finallist for Great Britain at that point in time. Later that year, at the Commonwealth Games, Annika achieved one of her best results to date. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games, 14 year old Annika helped lead her team to victory over the Canadians and Australians, and achieved individual success as the floor Champion
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