Gymnasts’ joy after golden finale for GB
Golden boys Joe Fraser and Jake Jarman believe British Gymnastics’ stunning European Championship Sunday perfectly epitomised the unity among their record-breaking team.
Britain racked up five medals yesterday as Fraser followed up his team and allaround titles with gold on the parallel bars.
And Jarman, part of the team who also grabbed gold on Saturday, won two medals 24 hours later by claiming victory on the vault after a brilliant bronze on the floor.
Four-time Commonwealth champion Jarman, 20, only found out he was competing on the vault 50 minutes before the event after teammate Giarnni Regini-moran – who won bronze behind Fraser on the parallel bars – pulled out with an ankle injury.
He stepped in to stun Artur Davtyan and Igor Radivilov and says his latest triumph is a ringing endorsement of the culture in the squad.
Jarman, who fell on the vault in qualifying earlier in the week, said: “I really expected Giarnni to do vault, so it was a surprise.
“It’s a weird feeling doing a competition at such last minute.
“I had some time to warm up and I saw it as a second chance to redeem myself, especially after falling in qualifying.
“I really went into the final to do Giarnni proud, and I really hope I’ve done that for him.”
Fraser, who recovered from injury to become the first British man to win a European all-around title and any colour medal on the parallel bars, added: “I’m really proud of myself and the team – they’ve really kept me going through these last couple of months.”
Courtney Tulloch also won a medal as he bagged bronze on the rings behind Eleftherios Petrounias and Adem Asil.
On the athletics track, Britain’s male sprint stars scorched to a thrilling 4x100m relay gold as Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes, Jona Efoloko and Nethaneel Mitchell-blake clocked a championship record time.
The red-hot quartet stopped the clock in 37.67s to beat France and Poland to the title by 0.27s.
Hughes, who won individual 100m silver and 200m gold earlier in the week, said: “I feel really proud of myself. To come away with a second gold medal to end my Championships is an amazing feeling.”
Efoloko added: “It’s been great. Nethaneel and Zharnel, who have been here for a long time, have really embraced me and Jeremiah, the younger guys coming in.
“I’ve really loved the team chemistry, the bonding and going away with a gold is sweet, a nice way to wrap up the Championships.”
Britain’s women’s team fluffed their lines in the last race of the evening, however, dropping the baton and getting disqualified as hosts Germany claimed gold.
Dina Asher-smith, who pulled up in this week’s 100m final before bouncing back to win 200m silver, said: “We’re a team and we’re such a strong squad. Things happen, it’s unfortunate, but it’s okay – we just grow from it.”