Golden end to 2010 for gymnast Smith
HUNTINGDON gymnast Louis Smith brought a superb year to a golden end at the Toyota Cup in Japan at the weekend.
HUNTINGDON gymnasts Louis Smith brought a superb year to a golden end at the Toyota Cup in Japan at the weekend.
The 21-year-old saw off the challenge of some of the world’s best on the pommel horse, setting a score of 15.600 with a complex routine that set a new standard as the most difficult seen in competition so far.
He took gold ahead of Chang Ju Ha of Korea, with Japan’s Kenya Kobayashi taking bronze.
Smith said that 2010 had been a satisfying year for him, and would set him up for more success in 2011.
“This has been a great year for me. I started in January with a broken thumb but recovered well to take silver at the European Championships in April, and then another silver at the Worlds in October.
“It was great to finish the season in Glasgow and Japan with two gold medals and a new routine that should prepare me for an important year in 2011.”
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The gold medal came on the back of a successful trip to the Bumbo Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, for his club-mates Luke Folwell and Cameron MacKenzie, which yielded seven medals.
In the senior all around competition, Commonwealth champion Luke Folwell battled against the 2009 floor and vault world champion Marian Dragulescu from Romania, and finished with a bronze.
He followed that up the next day with gold on the rings and parallel bars, silver on the high bar and bronze on the pommel horse, to equal his Commonwealth Games haul of five medals.
In the junior competition, MacKenzie took gold in the all around competition and silver on the parallel bars to round off a memorable year for the club.
