She started training at the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1998 and was awarded a full scholarship there in 2000.

She helped the Australian team to a respectable sixth-place finish, an improvement on the eight place in the 2004 Olympics.

However, a fall from beam in qualification rounds left her unable to progress to the apparatus final, where she was a medal prospect.

In the all-around, Dykes was one of only half a dozen gymnasts not to fall, but she still finished out of the medals, in seventh place.

[1] Her younger brother Lyndon Dykes is a professional footballer who plays for Birmingham City and the Scotland national team.