Max Whitlock wins bronze medal in thrilling all-around gymnastics competition
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 11/08/16 7:38am
Max Whitlock claimed another Olympic Games bronze medal for Team GB in a thrilling men's individual all-around gymnastics competition.
On Britain's most successful day in Rio de Janeiro so far, Whitlock added to the medal haul by clinging on for third place over the six apparatus after leading in the early stages.
Victory went to defending champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan, who became the first gymnast to defend the all-around title in 44 years and added to his gold in the team competition.
Uchimura left his victory charge late as he trailed Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev going into the final rotation but overturned a big deficit to win by less than a tenth of a point.
Whitlock had led after the first routine, on his favoured pommel horse, but he lost ground on the leading duo through the rest of the competition and eventually held on to bronze by 0.143 over Russia's David Belyanskiy.
He said: "The all-around is obviously the toughest event because you've got to get all six apparatus right, and it is something my coach and I have been working very hard on since London 2012.
"I wanted to prove myself as an all-rounder and I've fulfilled that, and I feel complete in that target. There was a lot of pressure and it became very tense towards the end.
"Uchimura has been my idol for a long time and I feel so proud to be mentioned alongside him and Oleg.
"He produced an amazing high bar routine on that last piece and that is one reason he's my idol, with the amount of pressure he was under."
