I’m lucky, says silver Smith
AT THE NORTH GREENWICH ARENA
GYMNASTICS poster boy Louis Smith insists he still feels “lucky” despite missing out on gold by the finest of margins yesterday.
Smith summoned a brilliant pommel horse routine to score 16.066, the same as favourite Krisztian Berki, but lost out to the Hungarian on a tie-break due to a fractionally lower execution score.
The 22-year-old’s silver was joined by a bronze from team-mate Max Whitlock, 19, and Smith refused to dwell on being denied a dream result.
“I competed one of the best routines of my life and it was tough waiting for the score but to come second to one of the best pommel horse workers the world’s ever seen – I’m a lucky guy,” said Smith, the first Briton ever to win Olympic silver in a single-apparatus event.
Both gymnasts, who performed in front of the Duchess of Cambridge, were part of the British line-up who won team bronze last week.
Whitlock added: “It’s an honour to finish beneath Berki and Louis. My goal was to do well for the team and just make a final but to come away with two bronze medals is incredible.”