United States gymnastics dynamo Simone Biles remained on course for a record haul of five women s titles in Rio on Sunday but Britain s Max Whitlock outshone Japan s Kohei Uchimura with his double gold. His arsenal of vertigo-inducing twisting skills has earned him the aforementioned nickname, four skills named after him (three on floor and one on vault) and the 2015 World title on floor.
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A tenth of a point behind her was teammate Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around champion who won team gold with both London’s Fierce Five and Rio’s Final Five.
Hemel’s Olympic gymnastic hero Max Whitlock has spoken of his joy after landing two gold medals in a day.
However Smith, 27, dismissed the reports, claiming he told his teammate he “should be proud man” after realising Whitlock was in with a chance when Armenian gymnast Harutyun Merdinyan had not scored well.
“It was really cool to see two flags rise up there, it’s just an awesome feeling”, Whitlock told reporters.
Whitlock produced a series of gravity-defying tumbles on the floor to win gold with a score of 15.633.
There were wild celebrations as Brazilian duo Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano won silver and bronze on the floor.
But the Brits weren’t finished yet.
Comments included: ‘Think Louis Smiths behaviour towards Max Whitlock is disgusting!Not bothering to shake hands.I know he’s heartbroken but…he’s a team mate, ‘ and: ‘Louis Smith throwing shade at Max Whitlock must be an embarrassment for Team GB! “It’s just pride. It’s nice not to hear a Japanese or American anthem for once. So, yeah, it’s just incredible”.
Team GB’s gold medal tally has risen to 16 after horse riding star Charlotte Dujardin took first place in the Olympic individual dressage.
But he was unable to capture that elusive gold medal, leaving that honor to Whitlock. It’s also the first Olympic gold in gymnastics for Britain.
He said: “I received so many negative comments when the team selection was made saying I shouldn’t be in the team”. It’s only the last day or two I’ve been back to my normal self.
The doubts were not entirely assuaged by Whitlock’s solid but unspectacular performance in the men’s team final, in which they narrowly missed out on a medal.
“We are friends”, said Smith, who plans to return to his television career next year, and focus on gymnastics after that. “This motivates me to do even more in the sport”.
Whitlock seemed a bit dazed after his performance as he walked past reporters. “When my coach said what I’d done, it hit me literally like a ton of bricks”. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t put it around his neck.
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“I’d like carry out an experiment to see how long it will take before I’ve had enough”, Chusovitina quipped after competing against rivals younger than her 17-year-old son. “It is pretty heavy to be honest”, he said with a chuckle. “I’ll be back in the gym, there’s always stuff for me to learn”. “It was tough, especially as I didn’t watch any of the floor routines that were before or after me”.
