Fantastic last day of Artistic Gymnastics

01st August 2014

The last day of the Gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games comprised the Apparatus Finals for Men's Vault, Women's Beam, Men's Parallel Bar, Women's Floor and Men's Horizontal Bar.  And the medals just kept on coming with some fabulous performances from the Home Country gymnasts - especially England.

MEN'S VAULT


Wah Toon Hoe (SIN) started off proceedings with a very good set of Vaults, scoring 14.195.  He was closely followed by England's Kristian Thomas who completed two fantastically difficult Vaults, but held on to the Pike too long and lost balance a little (Score 14.499).  Scott Morgan (CAN) was up next and it was clear he would be, again, a force to be wreckoned with.  He gave two very good Vaults, although they were a little lacking in height, but the Judges scored 14.733 and in to 1st place - Kristian following closely in 2nd position.

Although several good Vaults followed, none could compete with Morgan (CAN) - Gold, Thomas (ENG) - Silver and Hoe (SIN) - Bronze.

Full Results

GOLD	CAN	Scott Morgan	14.733
SILVER	ENG	Kristian Thomas	14.499
BRONZE	SIN	Wah Toon Hoe	14.195
4th	AUS	Kent Pieterse	14.099
5th	SCO	Frank Baines	14.016
6th	SIN	Jufrie Bin Muhammad	14.016
7th	SCO	Adam Cox	13.274
8th	IND	Ashish Kumar	7.166

WOMEN'S BEAM
Unfortunately, today wasn't England's Becky Downie's day on Beam and with three falls, it was clear that the score wouldn't be high enough (9.833) to be a contender.  Mary Ann Monckton (AUS) gave a gritty performance and scored 13.666 and straight in to the lead. 

Claudia Fragapane (ENG) was up next and she seemed to have recovered from her nerves in the All-Around Final and performed an excellent routine, albeit a little wobbly in places and a score of 13.133.

The girls from Wales (Lizzie Beddoe and Georgina Hockenhull) both had smooth performances, clean and in control, but with Georgina just slightly higher on score with 13.466 - she was in to the medals and with only one gymnast to come.

Elsabeth Black (CAN) gave a very good performance, with great difficulty and a big dismount and with a score of 14.9 - a Gold medal.

Full Results

GOLD	CAN	Elsabeth Black	14.900
SILVER	AUS	Mary Anne Monckton	13.666
BRONZE	WAL	Georgina Hockenhull	13.466
4th	WAL	Elizabeth Beddoe	13.366
5th	ENG	Claudia Fragapane	13.133
6th	AUS	Lauren Mitchell	13.000
7th	CAN	Isabela Maria Onyshko	12.666
8th	ENG	Rebecca Downie	9.833

MEN'S PARALLEL BAR


Max Whitlock (ENG) started on Parallel Bars and had a faultless routine - setting the bar for the others.  Nile Wilson (ENG) followed and, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it did....  What a display of Parallel Bars work.  Such fantastic focus for one so young, with brilliant control and a perfect dismount.  The score came in and he went straight in to 1st place with a score of 15.433.

Frank Baines (SCO) had a smooth start and text book routine (Score 14.866).  Last to come was Dan Purvis - a man on a mission and he didn't disappoint.  With legs locked together and wonderful handstand shapes he scored a fabulous 15.533 and took the Gold from Nile.  Yet another Home Country Medal podium.

When asked whether he thought he had done enough to get Gold, Nile Wilson (ENG) commented "I thought I had but Dan's routine was amazing.  I am so happy for him getting the Gold.  I now have a clean sweep of medals.  As I keep saying, this week has been one of the best of my life and I was so happy with that routine but I have High Bar next - so perhaps I could bring back another medal for that."

With a haul of 5 medals, Max Whitlock (ENG) confirmed that he was so happy and he had been really looking forward to the P-Bar Final.  "I finished the competition on a Bronze medal, with a good routine and it was good fun."  He was asked what it felt like to have three British guys on the medal podium "It was really special and gymnastics in the UK is really improving rapidly and I hope we can keep it up until the Worlds.  It has been a hard year with three major Championships and quite tiring but this event has brought us a lot of confidence."

Full Results

GOLD	SCO	Dan Purvis	15.533
SILVER	ENG	Nile Wilson	15.433
BRONZE	ENG	Max Whitlock	15.066
4th	SCO	Frank Baines	14.866
5th	AUS	Naoya Tsukahara	14.133
6th	CAN	Kevin Lytwyn	14.033
7th	AUS	Luke Wadsworth	12.400
8th	CAN	Zachary Clay	11.800

WOMEN'S FLOOR


Jessica Hogg (WAL) had a really good performance with good clean landings and scored 13.166.  Lauren Mitchell (AUS) gave a good routine, although stepped out of the floor, but scored 13.833 and in to the lead.  Stephanie Merkle (CAN) kept the power all the way to the finish, with good landings and, after a couple of days' rest from competition, she was refreshed and scored 13.433.  

Hannah Whelan (ENG) had a big step out of area, which was costly, but there was a lovely blend of choreography and acro (score 13.133).

Claudia Fragapane (ENG) took to the Floor with rapturous applause and great expectations and she didn't disappoint.  She had super energy, projection and performance, with such difficult tumbles, which she made look so easy.  Surely this was another Gold and with a score of 14.541 she would be difficult to beat.

Elsabeth Black (CAN) was next, but she struggled to land the tumbles and just couldn't compete with Claudia (score 13.666).

The Women's Floor medal ceremony was a special and historic one.  Being Claudia's fourth Gold medal, this took her in to the record books as the first women in 84 years to make this achievement.  Not since the Swimmer, Joyce Cooper, at the very first Games in Hamilton, Canada in 1930 has an English women achieved four Gold medals in a single Games.  In fact, she is one of only four people in England to have ever done it.

Claudia commented after the event "Its been great being here.  I'm only 16.  Coming out here and getting four Gold medals is just amazing."  When she was told that she was the most decorated English woman at a Commonwealth Games in 84 years she commented "I'm speechless - its incredible."  She said on her last performance of the Games "I had nothing to lose.  It was my last time competing here so I thought - just go out there and enjoy it - it's been incredible."

Final Results

GOLD	ENG	Claudia Fragapane	14.541
SILVER	AUS	Lauren Mitchell	13.833
BRONZE	CAN	Elsabeth Black	13.666
4th	CAN	Stefanie Merkle	13.433
5th	WAL	Jessica Hogg	13.133
6th	ENG	Hannah Whelan	13.133
7th	NZL	Charlotte Sullivan	13.033
8th	RSA	Kirsten Beckett	13.000

MEN'S HIGH BAR


Nile Wilson (ENG) had a fantastic High Bar and it was absolute perfection.  He is a class performer and has lovely technique and is so precise.  He went straight in to the lead with a fabulous score of 14.966.  Unfortunately, Dan Keatings (SCO) took a bad fall off the Bar, which would prove costly (score 13.366).

Frank Baines (SCO) gave a tremendous performance, with every circle beautifully done.  It was a fabulous routine and well deserved the score of 14.566 and in to 2nd place.  Kristian Thomas (ENG) next and he knew he would have to do a lot to surpass Nile's score.  It was beautiful work with plenty of difficulty and such height above the Bar.  Score 14.966 and the Judges placed him in 2nd and Silver medal.

Final Results

GOLD	ENG	Nile Wilson	14.966
SILVER	ENG	Kristian Thomas	14.966
BRONZE	CAN	Kevin Lytwyn	14.866
4th	SCO	Frank Baines	14.566
5th	AUS	Naoya Tsukahara	14.066
6th	SCO	Dan Keatings	13.366
7th	AUS	Sean O'Hara	12.700
8th	CAN	Anderson Loran	11.866

What a fabulous Commonwealth Games this has been for England - the best ever medal haul in the Gymnastics. 

In summary, the medals achieved are as follows:

EVENT	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
Men's Team	X
Women's Team	X
Men's All-Around	X		X
Women's All-Around	X	X	X
Men's Floor	X
Women's Floor	X
Women's Vault	X
Men's Pommel Horse		X	X
Women's Uneven Bars	X		X
Men's Vault		X
Men's Parallel Bars		X	X
Men's High Bar	X	X
TOTAL	9	5	5

All photographs courtesy of Linda Gore