2014 Commonwealth Games

English Men and Women Claim Team Golds

English Men and Women Claim Team Golds

Jul 29, 2014 by Karen Psiaki
English Men and Women Claim Team Golds

Image via British Gymnastics

After the second day of competition at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, the team titles have been decided and the field is set for individual all-around and event finals.
 
In the men’s competition, England claimed the team gold with a total of 266.804. Scotland took silver with a team total of 257.603, and the bronze went to Canada with a 252.078 total. Australia finished fourth (246.941), and Wales finished fifth (241.385).
 
The English also led in the individual all-around qualifications, with Max Whitlock qualifying in first (90.365) and Nile Wilson in second (86.607). Unfortunately, Sam Oldham injured himself on an awkward vault landing and had to be taken from the arena for medical attention. According to a release via British Gymnastics, teammate Louis Smith said “Today has been a brilliant experience despite what happened to Sam. We had to concentrate on what we needed to do and it put a bit of pressure on a few of us with three scores to count but we did the job and we’ve had fun doing it. We love the Commonwealth Games and it has been a great experience.”

Meanwhile, Scottish gymnasts Daniel Keatings (86.198), Frank Baines (85.806), and Daniel Purvis (85.599) added to the success of their silver team medal by earning the third, fourth, and fifth all-around qualifying spots respectively.
 
Team Australia’s Naoya Tsukahara and Luke Wadsworth earned the sixth and seventh qualifying spots for the all-around finals later this week, while Welsh gymnasts Clinton Purnell and Iwan Mepham had the eighth and ninth qualifying scores.
 
Among the women, England claimed gold with a 167.555, while second place and the silver medal went to 2010 champions Australia with a 161.646. The race for bronze was close between Wales and Canada, with Wales just edging the Canadians for the medal by 0.532 and earning Wales' first  Commonwealth Games artistic gymnastics medal. Scotland placed fifth with a 151.595, and South Africa finished sixth with a 151.363 team total.
 
In the individual all-around competition, Claudia Fragapane (ENG) took the top spot with an impressive 56.740, with teammates Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan finishing third and fifth (with scores of 54.065 and 53.366 respectively). The second qualifying spot went to Ellie Black (CAN) with a 55.166, and Lizzie Beddoe of Wales finished fourth with a 53.765. The sixth, seventh, and eighth qualifying spots went to Kirsten Beckett (RSA), Maegan Chant (CAN), and Georgina Hockenhull (WAL).

Results via Glasgow 2014