Education
In the 1996 European Championships in Birmingham, Reeder finished 14th in the all-around, the highest ranking recorded for a British athlete at the time.
In the 1996 European Championships in Birmingham, Reeder finished 14th in the all-around, the highest ranking recorded for a British athlete at the time.
She was the first gymnast from Great Britain to compete in two Olympic Games, in 1996 and 2000. She trained at the South Essex Gym Club under coach Rod Smith. She made her international debut at the 1993 Junior European Championships and entered the senior ranks in the following year.
She collected a third gold medal at the Commonwealths in 1998.
Reeder was also a European floor finalist in 1994, and a vault finalist in 1998. Reeder represented the United Kingdom at the 1994 team, 1994 individual, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999 World Championships.
Great Britain did not qualify to send a full team to the 1996 Olympics, but were permitted to send two gymnasts to compete as individuals. Reeder was the higher-ranked of the two British gymnasts, placing 66th in the prelims.
At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia, Reeder captained the British women"s team
The squad finished 10th, its best Olympic placement ever. Annika qualified to the all-around finals, the culmination of a lifetime"s ambition. However, her bid to compete in the all-around would be undone by the infamous vault fiasco.
Prior to the all-around, unbeknownst to the athletes and coaches, the vaulting horse was set 2 inches (5 cm) too low.
This completely altered gymnasts" pre and post-flight, and resulted in many crashes, falls and injuries. Reeder vaulted on the faulty apparatus and was, perhaps, the worst affected by the error.
She was so injured on her vault attempts that she had to be helped off the mats and was forced to withdraw from the remainder of the competition. Following the 1999 World Championships, the FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) added all the new elements into the Code of Points.
The skill has a difficulty value of "Doctorate," in the 2013-2016 Women"s Code of Points.
Nickname: Furby
Hometown: Loughton, Essex
Family: Mother (Stephanie), Father (Stewart), Sister (Kirsty)
She is currently in a long term relationship with Craig Pellowe (also a former international gymnast!)
Though a commonly used skill, Reeder was the first gymnast in the world to perform this skill at the World Championships. Great Britain competed in the second qualifying round, with seven teams competing before them on the bars. Four of these countries ended up placing higher than Great Britain, yet none of the gymnasts performed the "Reeder."
Reeder was a participant on the London Weekend Television programme, "You Bet!", hosted by Bruce Forsyth, in 1989.
Her team"s challenge was to complete 150 somersaults over a vaulting-horse in 90 seconds.
Reeder, and her team-mates completed 184 somersaults in the allotted time, saving the host from a forfeit.