THERE will come a time, in a few years yet, when Daniel Purvis is able to stop and take stock of what has been a remarkable gymnastics career.

As he talks, there are hints which suggest the 24-year-old Scot is already thinking of a life beyond competitive sport – gaining his coaching qualifications and dreaming of opening his own gym – but Purvis’s focus is without doubt firmly on a momentous year ahead. In his crosshairs is securing a place in the Great Britain team for the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow next month, a vital step on the road to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

The reigning Commonwealth Games parallel bars champion will need to safely negotiate the London Open this week which will serve as the main trials for the World Championships among the British men’s contingent.

There will also be two key inter- nationals against Spain and France in the coming weeks, presenting further chances to shine.

Purvis is under no illusions that he faces a formidable task, but with a pedigree which includes winning the British and Scottish all-around titles already this year and a bronze at the 2015 European Championships, he has every right to be quietly confident.

“The results from the European Championships will be taken into consideration, but it is about who is performing best at this time and the London Open will be massively important,” he says. “That will be a big battle among everyone to make the team for the World Championships in Glasgow. There will be six places for Worlds and only five next year for the Olympics.”

Competition will be fierce. Vying for a spot alongside Purvis is Max Whitlock, a double Olympic bronze and world all-around silver medallist, who has now recovered from a bout of glandular fever.

Pommel horse specialist Louis Smith, the reigning European champion and Olympic silver medallist on that apparatus, is another in contention. Then there is Sam Oldham, Kristian Thomas – both part of the successful London 2012 bronze medal- winning team – and Scot Daniel Keatings, a two-time European gold medallist and Commonwealth Games champion on pommel horse.

Five-time European junior champion Nile Wilson won high bar gold at Glasgow 2014 and was a bronze medallist in the all-around competition. He has kept a low profile this year after undergoing wrist surgery last autumn but is undoubtedly a rising star.

Frank Baines, part of Team Scotland’s silver medal-winning team at the Commonwealth Games, has shown impressive glimmers of the form which saw him earn the 2012 European junior all-around title. Throw into the mix Courtney Tulloch, another former European junior gold medallist and a member of the senior men’s team at last year’s World Gymnastics Champion- ships, Ashley Watson, a regular among the British squad in recent years, and youngsters such as Dominick Cunningham and Brinn Bevan, and it is teeing up to be an almighty tussle.

“The last Olympic cycle was tough but now we have the juniors coming up as well and winning medals,” says Purvis. “It is difficult and will be about making sure you are as consistent as possible and can deliver when needed. That can be nerve-wracking but I always try to focus on what I have done over the years in terms of preparation and build-up.”

While Purvis insists “the first goal is to make the team”, he is buoyed by the strength and depth of the British squad for when the World Championships roll around.

“The big aim is for a team medal,” he says. “It is possible – we finished fourth in Nanning last year – so hopefully with home advantage, we can get on the podium in Glasgow. To finish in the top 10 in the world individually and make an apparatus final on either floor or parallel bars would be my goal.”

Since he claimed all-around bronze at the European Championships in April, Purvis has spent considerable time fine-tuning his routines. “While I was happy with my result, I came away thinking I could tidy a lot of things up and limit any deductions,” he says. “There have been a few little tweaks to my routines but nothing too drastic. It is about consistency and being as clean as possible. If you can score between 89.0 and 90.0 in the all-around, that is massive. That will be my aim and with the routines I’ve got, it is possible, but I have to make them as clean as I possibly can.”

Purvis, who splits his time between Southport YMCA and British Gymnastics HQ in Lille-shall, typically trains for upwards of 30 hours each week. “It is quite demanding but I can see light at the end of the tunnel with Rio next year,” he says. “After that, we will have to see what happens. I’m enjoying it all because this could be my last real big shot at the Olympics.

“As I get a bit older, I’m looking forward to competitions rather than feeling nervous and dreading it. I do feel much more relaxed. Coming away with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games felt so emotional because it was such a rollercoaster week. I appreciate those moments more because when I was younger I did perhaps take them for granted.”

Although born in Liverpool and brought up on Merseyside, his mother Denise hails from Dundee and Purvis made the decision early in his gymnastics career to represent Scotland.

He comes from a sporty family. Denise is a PE teacher while his father, Robert, also taught PE before retiring. His older brother Richard, 27, was a keen footballer and played at under-14 level for Everton FC. “He was always brilliant at football and I was rubbish,” says Purvis, laughing. “I was never that academic at school and so gymnastics was always important to me.”

While he admits that training is all-consuming, Purvis is keen to expand his horizons. “I have started getting coaching qualifications,” he says. “It has been good to see another side of the sport and it is something I would perhaps like to pursue eventually. I would love to open my own gymnastics club one day.”

He is among six athletes chosen by supermarket brand Aldi as ambassadors on the road to Rio. Alongside boxer Nicola Adams, BMX rider Liam Phillips, modern pentathlete Samantha Murray, diver Jack Laugher and taekwondo player Jade Jones, Purvis is set to adorn a series of ads.

“It can be quite a shock reading the paper, turning the page and seeing yourself staring back,” he says. “Thankfully the photographer managed to filter out most of the flaws.”

Follow Daniel Purvis on Twitter: @PurvisDanny