TWO aerial gymnasts have reached new heights by striking gold on their debut at the world championships in Italy.

Heather Dougan, 11, from Greenock, and Ellie-Jayne Fabiani, nine, from Port Glasgow, triumphed in the aerial hoop contest in Stresa in Lake Maggiore.

The girls are pupils at Natalie McKay's Flex UK Studios in Port Glasgow.

A delighted Natalie, 26, said: "We won won four medals.

"The girls won gold for a doubles routine in the Children's Duo category and Ellie won gold for her solo routine in her age group."

Natalie also finished first in the adult category to bring the team's haul up to four.

She said: "I knew Ellie would win gold because I knew how great she was."

Natalie says it's a big achievement for both Ellie and Heather as they have only been training for a year.

She said: "It's quite a new sport here but it's well established abroad.

"The Italian team was massive and Poland and Russia had 20 each.

"The girls were a bit intimidated first but once they got on the aerial hoop, girls from the other countries came up and asked what category they were in.

"That gave them a bit of confidence.

"It was quite a tough competition."

Natalie is no stranger to gold medals, having succeeded at Scottish championship level in both judo and boxing.

She changed sports, retrained as a personal trainer and set up the studios in April 2016 and hasn't looked back since.

Natalie said: "I love boxing too but it was time for a change.

"I've always loved dance and when I bought an aerial hoop I was hooked."

She is now focused on preparing for the Scottish Championships in April and the UK Championships in August.