Kristian Thomas leads GB team to Euro glory
An outstanding display from?Shropshire-based gymnast Kristian Thomas helped Great Britain's men take gold in the team event at the artistic gymnastics European Championships in Montpellier.
An outstanding display from?Shropshire-based gymnast Kristian Thomas helped Great Britain's men take gold in the team event at the artistic gymnastics European Championships in Montpellier.
Thomas, Daniel Purvis, Louis Smith, Ruslan Panteyleymonov and Max Whitlock became the first British line-up to ever take a major championships team gold medal.
It was the perfect result ahead of the London Olympics, with the team impressing on the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault and parallel bars before a score of 15.133 from Lilleshall-based Thomas on the high bar secured victory. Britain's winning score was 266.296 to see off the challenges of Russia (265.535) and Romania (261.319)
"I didn't know what score I needed on the high bar, I just knew I needed to go clear," Thomas said afterwards.
"We've worked so hard in the gym to prepare for days like this and with the support of the lads I managed to pull through, we're so proud."
Thomas, needing to score more than 14.372 to secure the gold, barely faltered on high bar in the very last routine of the competition.
His score was met with jubilation among the British coaches and gymnasts.
"It was an amazing experience. I knew I had to hit a clean routine to win the gold," Thomas added.
"I knew I was capable, it was just dealing with the pressure and the nerves. Now it's over, it's pretty enjoyable."
Their success followed on from Britain's junior team claiming European gold on Wednesday, with Frank Baines and Nile Wilson finishing first and second in the junior all-around event yesterday. And British Gymnastics Olympic performance director Tim Jones admits the timing could not have been better with the Games just 60 days away.
He said: "There will be a lot of people who thought they would never see this day and to have both the junior and seniors as champions of Europe is a tremendous result."
The previous best finish for GB's men had been second place in Birmingham two years ago.
This year's five-man team had already set two records by topping team qualifying earlier in the week while every GB gymnast reached a major final – both firsts for a British squad, male or female.
