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Brits look ahead after medal breakthrough
Source: Agencies |
July 31, 2012, Tuesday
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GREAT Britain's male gymnasts hope their stunning bronze medal success in yesterday's Olympic team final will herald the start of a golden age for the sport in the country.
The five-man team ended Britain's 100-year wait for an Olympic team medal and they could have even claimed silver, had a judges' inquiry not allowed Japan to leapfrog them into second place, behind champions China.
After Louis Smith's bronze medal on the pommel horse in Beijing four years ago, the assured performance of the British team at the North Greenwich Arena suggests they have belatedly arrived as a global power.
Smith, who anchored Yesterday's success with a 15.966 pommel routine, said he had had no doubts that Britain would challenge for honours across the board at their home Olympics.
"I definitely knew my pommel routine wouldn't be our only chance of a medal in 2012," he said.
"Since Beijing, British gymnastics has just been growing and growing. And the beauty of it is that this team isn't just a one-hit wonder.
"Two of these guys (Sam Oldham and Max Whitlock) are only 19 and they're not even at their peak yet, and Rio's (Olympic Games) coming up in 2016.
"There's so much depth in the squad. And now everyone's going to be even more motivated than ever."
Kristian Thomas secured Britain's place on the podium with a brave final floor routine that earned him a score of 15.433, and he voiced hope that his team's success would help elevate the sport's profile.
"Our results over the last few years have just got better and better. We're starting to get more recognition from the outside world," he said.
"Gymnastics is a fantastic sport. The more people who get involved, it can only do gymnastics good.
"Hopefully this can put gymnastics at the forefront of sport alongside things like football, tennis and athletics, and show the world that we can be a force to be reckoned with."
Aside from his floor routine, Thomas had earlier produced a double-piked Yurchenko vault that gave him a day's best score of 16.550 and sent a wave of belief coursing through the home fans in the arena.
Smith described it as a "game-changer", and Thomas admitted afterwards that he had never previously pulled off the vault in competition.
"It's the first time I've ever stuck a landing without taking any steps," said the 23-year-old from Wolverhampton.
"Usually, if you land and manage to stay within the boundary it gives you 16.3, so to get 16.55 was absolutely amazing. It was a fantastic feeling. Just drilling my feet into the ground and knowing we were onto a good day here."
The last word was left to Oldham, the youngest member of the team, who inadvertently jeopardised Britain's medal chances when he fell from the high bar during the penultimate rotation.
However, to huge cheers from the crowd, he picked himself up and completed his routine and then watched on from the sidelines as Whitlock, Thomas and Daniel Purvis brought the bronze medal home.
"What we've done today is just madness. It's so overwhelming, I can't say anything. It's incredible to be in this position," he said.
"There's a lot of hard work that's gone into this over the years. Everyone's families and the coaches have put so much into this. It's been a massive, massive team effort.
"If someone had said at the start of the day that we'd finish third behind China and Japan, I wouldn't have believed them. It's an amazing experience and something I'll never forget."
The five-man team ended Britain's 100-year wait for an Olympic team medal and they could have even claimed silver, had a judges' inquiry not allowed Japan to leapfrog them into second place, behind champions China.
After Louis Smith's bronze medal on the pommel horse in Beijing four years ago, the assured performance of the British team at the North Greenwich Arena suggests they have belatedly arrived as a global power.
Smith, who anchored Yesterday's success with a 15.966 pommel routine, said he had had no doubts that Britain would challenge for honours across the board at their home Olympics.
"I definitely knew my pommel routine wouldn't be our only chance of a medal in 2012," he said.
"Since Beijing, British gymnastics has just been growing and growing. And the beauty of it is that this team isn't just a one-hit wonder.
"Two of these guys (Sam Oldham and Max Whitlock) are only 19 and they're not even at their peak yet, and Rio's (Olympic Games) coming up in 2016.
"There's so much depth in the squad. And now everyone's going to be even more motivated than ever."
Kristian Thomas secured Britain's place on the podium with a brave final floor routine that earned him a score of 15.433, and he voiced hope that his team's success would help elevate the sport's profile.
"Our results over the last few years have just got better and better. We're starting to get more recognition from the outside world," he said.
"Gymnastics is a fantastic sport. The more people who get involved, it can only do gymnastics good.
"Hopefully this can put gymnastics at the forefront of sport alongside things like football, tennis and athletics, and show the world that we can be a force to be reckoned with."
Aside from his floor routine, Thomas had earlier produced a double-piked Yurchenko vault that gave him a day's best score of 16.550 and sent a wave of belief coursing through the home fans in the arena.
Smith described it as a "game-changer", and Thomas admitted afterwards that he had never previously pulled off the vault in competition.
"It's the first time I've ever stuck a landing without taking any steps," said the 23-year-old from Wolverhampton.
"Usually, if you land and manage to stay within the boundary it gives you 16.3, so to get 16.55 was absolutely amazing. It was a fantastic feeling. Just drilling my feet into the ground and knowing we were onto a good day here."
The last word was left to Oldham, the youngest member of the team, who inadvertently jeopardised Britain's medal chances when he fell from the high bar during the penultimate rotation.
However, to huge cheers from the crowd, he picked himself up and completed his routine and then watched on from the sidelines as Whitlock, Thomas and Daniel Purvis brought the bronze medal home.
"What we've done today is just madness. It's so overwhelming, I can't say anything. It's incredible to be in this position," he said.
"There's a lot of hard work that's gone into this over the years. Everyone's families and the coaches have put so much into this. It's been a massive, massive team effort.
"If someone had said at the start of the day that we'd finish third behind China and Japan, I wouldn't have believed them. It's an amazing experience and something I'll never forget."
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