Glasgow 2014: Max Whitlock and Claudia Fragapane win golds
- Published
Max Whitlock and Claudia Fragapane both won their second Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow as England dominated the all-around gymnastics finals.
Whitlock, 21, scored well on all six pieces of apparatus to win the men's final with a superb score of 90.631.
Fragapane, 16, produced a gold-winning score of 56.132 from her four rotations and Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan completed a podium clean sweep.
Nile Wilson won men's bronze while Scotland's Dan Keatings took silver.
Fragapane's gold came after England's women also won the team final.
Whitlock's closest challenger, Scotland's Dan Keatings, scored 88.298 to take silver.
It was the second time in consecutive days that Whitlock, from Hertfordshire, had broken the 90-point barrier after he also achieved the feat in Tuesday's team final, which doubled as all-round qualification.
Whitlock said: "I wasn't paying much attention to the scores. I wanted to have clean routines and to have that comfortable margin at the end felt really good.
"I can't actually explain it, it's a crazy thing. Even before the routine I was so nervous and to stick the landing (on high bar, the final apparatus) like that was amazing."
Olympic bronze medallist Beth Tweddle on Max Whitlock |
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"It is incredible scoring from Max and he really stole the show today. He wanted to nail the 90 score and that was the big thing for him ahead of the World Championships. He has such great flair and style and there is such a sense of relief when you nail those routines." |
Whitlock began strongly with 15.466 on the floor to take the lead ahead of Scotland's Dan Purvis but Purvis's chance of gold disappeared after a poor display on the pommel horse.
The Englishman, the world silver medallist on the pommel horse, extended his advantage with 15.866 and was the class act across the rest of the disciplines, knowing that only a serious mistake could ruin his chances of adding to the team gold he won on Tuesday.
The battle between Keatings and Silver went down to the wire with just 1.0 points between the pair going into the penultimate discipline.
Keatings scored 14.766 on the parallel bars but Wilson, who won five golds at this year's Junior European Championship, cut the gap further with 15.433 to leave it down to the high bar.
Keatings held his nerve to score 14.766 to put the pressure on Wilson, who could only manage the same score and had to settle for bronze.
"Now these are the Games I will never forget," said Keatings.
"I came here hoping to get a team medal, we got a silver. I was hoping to finish in the top five all-around and I came second, so everything is just a bonus at the moment. I don't think I'll ever forget this."
Scotland's Emma White had led after the first subdivision in the women's final with a total of 51.532 from the four pieces of apparatus - the floor, beam, vault and bars.
Good scores from the vault and the bars had Harrold looking a strong contender for gold at the halfway stage, a view that only strengthened when a 13.700 on the floor in her final rotation put her into first place.
However, Fragapane then produced a superb final routine to score 14.733 and secure gold, prompting a huge ovation from the crowd.
"I had a big floor to finish on so I hoped the medal would come and the team helped me through," Fragapane said.
"It didn't feel real. I felt speechless. It was absolutely incredible. I'm 16 years old - it's amazing."
- Published29 July 2014
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