Britain’s Max Whitlock displays his gold for the pommel horse during the medal ceremony for the artistic gymnastics men’s apparatus final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016.
Advertisement
Whitlock then edged compatriot Louis Smith, who fell on the pommel horse during the men’s team event, in his second apparatus final barely two hours later thanks to a formidable total of 15.966 to capp a golden afternoon for himself and for Britain.
It was actually a historic day for the team, as the 23-year-old is the first British gymnast to ever win a gold medal at the Olympics.
Max added: “Louis congratulated me coming out which I really appreciated”.
“I had to refocus (after the first gold)”.
“It’s something I’ve focused on, it’s something that I’ve been hungry for, it’s something that I wanted to peak for”. Whitlock came in already as an Olympic champion, and Smith was desperate for the Gold.
In April this year he was awarded the Freedom of the Borough in a ceremony at the Bas Centre, where he said: “Basildon has been fantastic, supporting me for over 10 years now”. But Smith, one of the favorites, passed him up with a 15.833.
“It’s just an incredible feeling”, said Whitlock on winning two gold medals.
On the pommel, Smith’s 15.833 had looked to be gold material. We are one and two in the world and that is a great place to be.
British gymnastics had suffered an 80-year medal drought between the women’s team bronze won in 1928 and Smith’s bronze on the pommel in 2008.
Whitlock was the first British Gymnast to land Olympic Gold in an Olympic final.
Whitlock deliberated seconds before his own subsequent routine whether to attempt the hard “Single Russian” routine, with a 7.1 degree of difficulty.
His team-mate Louis Smith also won silver in the pommel horse.
Arise Sir Max? – social media reaction GB long jumper Greg Rutherford hails Whitlock’s achievement Fellow gymnast Sam Oldham predicts a New Year’s Honour for his team-mate.
“So many different things, the amount of pride I am feeling right now, my mum didn’t come out but I’ve been speaking to her every day, she’s been anxious sick to see me under that pressure and it means so much”.
Tweddle added: “I remember Max when he was a junior and I remember watching him thinking “there’s something special about him”. I believed in myself and my coach believed in me, when nobody believed in me”, he told reporters.
Advertisement
Yet with a great deal of modesty, he responded to the question of whether he could take pride as the trailblazer of the sport for Britain with “a little bit”. Looking back I feel quite proud that I did it.
