Whitehouse wins gymnastics gold after room-mate’s horror fall

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Whitehouse wins gymnastics gold after room-mate’s horror fall

Luke Whitehouse raises his right arm and shows off his gold medalImage source, PA Media
ByMatthew Henry

BBC Sport Journalist in Glasgow
  • Published

After Gabriel Langton’s horror fall on Friday, team-mate Joshua Nathan said he was unable to sleep because of the sickening sight.

But by Monday, Langton was back cheering his team-mates from the stands in Glasgow and room-mate Luke Whitehouse was winning gold on the floor.

England’s gymnasts have had quieter weeks.

Whitehouse’s gold was England’s first in gymnastics at these Commonwealth Games.

It followed on from the silver they won when the team event resumed after Langton’s fall.

“What happened to Gabe overshadowed what the team did, but winning gold today… incredible,” Whitehouse, 24, said.

“I saw so many news headlines and it was pretty horrible. It is not nice for Gabe scrolling social media and seeing all of the videos.

“He’s back. He’s doing well.”

Earlier in the day, Langton,19, had told the BBC how he feared for his future in gymnastics after his incident.

He spent 20 hours in a neck brace before being discharged from hospital, having fallen from three metres directly on to his head.

“I knew I could speak and move my fingers and toes so my main thing was ‘hopefully I can do gymnastics again’,” Langton said.

“That question was in my head for the 20 hours until I got the MRI scan results. That was eating away at me.”

The 19-year-old said it was a move on the high bars he had completed “1,000 times and it is once that has happened”.

“Once I went up and both hands have left the bar, that is not the best,” he said.

“From that moment, I knew ‘oh, this isn’t going to be comfortable’.”

He initially felt frustrated and embarrassed before coming to realise the severity of the situation.

Only after scans showed swelling and bruising, rather than anything more troubling, was he able to leave hospital on Saturday night.

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“A little bit sore and a little bit stiff but that is to be expected,” Langton said of his condition.

“I can’t really complain too much.”

The teenager did not receive his medal until he returned to the team hotel on Saturday evening, with the other members of the team gathering to applaud him.

Whitehouse said the team wanted to do that in order to replace videos of his fall, which were circulating widely on social media over the weekend, with something more positive.

“That was incredible,” Langton said of the moment.

“Seeing all of the team-mates, coaches and getting my medal. I saw my personal coach from Birmingham. It was so nice.”

These things are, of course, relative, but Whitehouse’s Sunday was a disappointing one. He came seventh in an all-round final won by Scotland’s Reuben Ward.

His response on Monday was almost immaculate.

Malaysia’s Muhammad Sharul Aimy, Australia’s James Hardy and Ward all made mistakes in the early rounds of the competition, giving Whitehouse – the fifth gymnast to enter – an opportunity.

He barely faltered, scoring 14.566 to take gold – a score that was not bettered by the remaining three competitors.

“The last few days have been about regrouping after everything that’s happened and then coming out and delivering a good performance,” he said.

There was a similar story later in the women’s vault when England’s Abigail Martin, who finished 11th in the women’s all-round final, took silver behind Canada’s Lia-Monica Fontaine.

“Yesterday didn’t really go to plan the way I wanted it to, but I’m really pleased that I managed to pick myself back up today,” Martin said.

“For me, I just had a little cry about it, but then I thought about all the things that had gone well.”

Whitehouse and Martin will be back on Tuesday in the vault and floor respectively. Langton will again be in the stands.

He plans to “take it easy for a couple of days and do the rehab” before returning to training in the near future.

“I trust in my gymnastics capability,” Langton said.

“It was really just a freak accident.”

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