At first mention, the name Reiss Beckford may not immediately send bells ringing in Jamaica.

But that might very well change in the near future as Beckford is poised to leap into the spotlight as a Jamaican Olympian come 2020.

Born in England to a Jamaican father, Beckford, an artistic gymnast, announced his decision to switch allegiance to Jamaica in 2015 — a move which boosted his Olympic ambitions as it increased his chances of qualification for the Rio Olympic Games last year.

As such, he competed at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, along with teammates Caleb Faulk and Nicholas Tai, charting the course as the first Jamaican men to achieve that feat.

Beckford failed to qualify for any finals, but placed high enough to qualify a Jamaican man to the Rio Test Event in April last year, where he would have a shot at qualifying for the Olympic Games.

However, Beckford was unable to take his place at the qualifying event himself by virtue of the rules, which states that a gymnast must not have competed for another country in the past three years.

Beckford, who was a part of the team that won the silver medal in the men’s artistic all-around team event, and who won a silver medal in the men’s individual all-around event and the men’s floor at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, last represented Great Britain in 2014.

This resulted in him missing out on the Rio Olympic Games, but the odds are still stocked in his favour to become the first Jamaican male gymnast to compete at an Olympic Games, should he qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“It is kind of funny that I have come this far because I started gymnastics at the age of six just for fun, but then one of the coaches saw my potential and trialled me in a more advanced group, and from there it became my passion,” Beckford said with a laugh in a telephone interview with the Jamaica Observer from London recently.

“I decided to compete for Jamaica because when I was younger I always joked with my granddad about competing for Jamaica, but at that time it was never possible. So once I saw that Jamaica had gymnasts, I knew I wanted to be involved — bringing my knowledge and experience on board,” he added.

And the 25-year-old did just that.

Beckford received high marks in the recent Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal, Canada, earlier this month, placing 26th out of 239 male gymnasts competing from 80 countries.

But with only the top 24 gymnasts competing in the finals, Beckford was second on a list of four reserves (25th to 28th), who were on standby in case a finalist had to drop out.

He was joined in action by the United States-based Faulk and Stephen Lewis, along with local stars Tai and Daniel Williams, who all produced creditable performances.

Canadian-based Mackenzie Robinson was the sole female gymnast and she also gave a positive display in adding to the country’s credentials of now producing gymnasts who can compete at elite level in international competitions.

Olympian Toni-Ann Williams was among three gymnasts who missed the championship due to illness and injuries.

Taking a number of positives from the championship, Beckford is optimistic of maintaining his good form leading up to the Olympic qualifiers.

“Obviously at the top of the list for my future plans in gymnastics is to hopefully make it to the 2020 Olympics, so I just want to remain positive, healthy and consistent in my build-up in order to get there.

“But after that, another thing on my list is to stay involved in the sport 100 per cent; but I’m not sure whether that will be as a gymnast coach or something else,” Beckford noted.

And having worked his way through the ranks with his biggest dream of Olympic participation now in sight, Beckford had words of encouragement for aspiring gymnasts.

“As young aspiring gymnasts, they just need to enjoy every moment in the gym. Work hard, dream big, and be as positive as you can be and your success will eventually come,” he ended, shortly before catching a flight to Germany for competition.