It was bronze, then silver, then
back to bronze. A brilliant breath-taking bronze, but not the stunning
silver medal that was in British hands for those dizzying few moments on
Monday evening.
It would
have been Britain’s first silver medal since Walter Tysal came second in
the all-round individual event in 1908, but it was snatched away. Gone, as quickly as it had been ours when Japan’s Kohei Uchimura stumbled off-balance during his dismount from the pommel horse and Great Britain’s name flashed up in second place.
Historic: Bronze medalists Daniel Purvis, Max Whitlock, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas and Sam Oldham
Historic moment: Britain's men celebrate winning the bronze medal in the team event
Japan’s appeal was accepted, Uchimura’s score was increased by 0.7 and they took the silver behind China. Ukraine missed out on a medal all together and Great Britain were pushed into third place. Yet, as Rebecca Adlington showed on Sunday night, perhaps bronze is the new gold.
‘To get a medal was just unbelievable,’ said Louis Smith, who won an individual Olympic bronze on the pommel horse in 2008. ‘We had already exceeded expectation by qualifying.
Here we go: Kristian Thomas of Great Britain reacts after he competes on the horizontal bar
‘I have been working with them for 10 years. I’ve spent my life with these guys. To get a medal at London 2012 is just the icing on the cake.’
This is not about failing to win that ultimate, glittering prize; there is no sense of failure whatsoever in what Britain’s team achieved last night. Quite the opposite: it is about remembering where these athletes and this sport have come from, how hard they’ve worked and what they may go on to achieve.
What Smith, Max Whitlock, Daniel Purvis, Sam Oldham and Kristian Thomas did last night has never been seen before in our lifetimes.
Asked how impressed they were with Great Britain’s improvement over the last few years, the Chinese team, the gold medallists, just smiled and clapped. The British had beaten them in qualifying for this final, incidentally.
That was how it felt inside the North Greenwich Arena last night — as if history was being made; as if these five athletes were forging a new chapter for British gymnastics.
The crowd went on that journey with them: watching 19-year-old Oldham fall from the high bar as Great Britain dropped into fourth place with one rotation to go, before they clawed their way back into a medal position on the floor exercise. For a while it was silver but ultimately it was bronze. And that will still do nicely.
Britain were second after the first piece of apparatus, the pommel horse, as Smith outdid the highest-ranked score he achieved in qualification to record a stunning 15.966. He pumped his arms, urging the crowd and his countrymen on.
He was the cheerleader from then on, leaving his four team-mates to perform on the other five pieces.
Britain slipped to fifth after the rings, but a stunning final vault from Thomas, which scored 16.550 — the best yet at London 2012 — put the hosts back into the bronze medal spot at the halfway stage.
‘It’s the first time I have ever stuck (landed) it in competition,’ said Thomas. ‘I landed on my feet and I was thinking: “That’s pretty odd. We must be on to a good thing here”.’
By Royal command: Princes William (left) Harry watch the men's team final of the artistic gymnastics event
Golden boys: China celebrate winning the men's team final
Controversy: The Japanese team submit their appeal (above) and wait on the result (below)
The teenger only made his senior debut last year and was something of a late call up at the expense of 2009 world all-round individual silver medallist Dan Keatings.
But he got back up to record 14.00 and Thomas put Britain back in contention with a gutsy 15.2.
‘I was gutted. Crushed,’ said Oldham. ‘But I had to switch out of that as quick as I could because I knew it wasn’t over. If I fell again that was it. I managed to get back on and finish it clean.
The last time we won a medal: Britain’s bronze
in Stockholm in 1912 was their last medal in team gymnastics at the
Olympics. There were no Lycra outfits, but gymnasts wore knickerbockers
and stockings. Rope-climbing was a discipline and powerhouses China,
Japan and USA were nowhere to be seen.
Going into that gripping final round, Great Britain knew that if they and Ukrainian recreated the scores they got in qualifying, the bronze would belong to Britain.
Whitlock put a foot outside the mat as he landed after his first diagonal tumble, but composed himself and outscored Oleg Stepko, the Ukrainian athlete on the rings just metres away. Purvis then scored higher than the second Ukrainian, Mykola Kuksenkov. A clean routine from Thomas and the bronze medal would belong to Britain.
In form: Louis Smith continued to perform well as he shone on the pommel horse
Concentration: Kristian Thomas (left) and Daniel Purvis on their way to helping Britain to the bronze medal
It was incredible theatre. The three
Ukrainian athletes had already completed their routines on the rings
when Thomas stepped out in front of Princes William and Harry.
Twenty thousand fans inside this arena held their breath, as did the millions watching on television at home.
And Thomas delivered; just as he produced his stunning performance on the vault and an impressive 15.200 on the high bar. He did it — and the North Greenwich Arena roared back.
‘This is a beautiful day for British gymnastics,’ said Smith. Who needs a silver medal — he is right.
Twenty thousand fans inside this arena held their breath, as did the millions watching on television at home.
And Thomas delivered; just as he produced his stunning performance on the vault and an impressive 15.200 on the high bar. He did it — and the North Greenwich Arena roared back.
‘This is a beautiful day for British gymnastics,’ said Smith. Who needs a silver medal — he is right.
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