As each day passes, more and more stars are made as the medals roll in and the list of potential candidates gets ever stronger. “Max held his nerve and I am quite good at eating humble pie – Max deserved it today”.
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After years spent idolising the seven-time world champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist, rated by many as the best his sport has seen, it was the first time the admiration had been reciprocated and made Whitlock realise he had done something extra-special.
Whitlock led a British 1-2 on pommel horse ahead of Louis Smith (15.833), with Alexander Naddour (15.700) giving the U.S. men their first gymnastics medal with bronze.
But that wasn’t the end of Louis Smith’s singing career, as he admits he auditioned for the reality TV music competition The X Factor. “After this we will have a few drinks”.
Now that he has time to take it all in, Whitlock said he would take a short break but would soon be back in the gym.
However, there really was no stopping Whitlock.
And Justin Rose is in pole position to win the first Olympic golf gold medal for 112 years and tees off on his decisive fourth and final round at 14:39 BST with a one-shot lead.
But Smith was quick to set the record straight.
Biles kept her pursuit of five titles in the Brazilian city alive with an average score of 15.966 after her two vaults – the second of which yielded a whopping 16.033 – to finish comfortably ahead of silver medallist Maria Pasenka of Russian Federation, who was over 0.7 points adrift.
When 19-year-old Louis Smith punched the air in delight after securing a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, he had no knowledge that he had just changed the course of the history of British gymnastics.
But some people claimed that Smith had refused to congratulate his teammate after he was pipped to gold in the pommel horse. “I couldn’t take in what I had just done in the floor”. Whitlock proved his commitment to the sport when he briefly moved to Slovenia to keep training with his coach, who had moved back to his home country. “I fell in two Olympic Games”.
He then added to his tally with another gold in the pommel horse event.
“I couldn t really take it in on floor”.
Rose, the world number 12, wrote his name into the history books earlier in the tournament after carding the first ever hole-in-one in Olympic history. It’s also the first Olympic gold in gymnastics for Britain.
He indicated as much even before his media conference had taken place here, saying: “That’s not me done”.
“I’ve been in the sport for two decades and it shows I’ve still got it at the age of 27”.
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He beat Louis Smith into second spot on the pommel horse.
