European Championships 2018: Great Britain men's gymnasts qualify for final

Briton Max Whitlock won floor and pommel gold at Rio 2016

Great Britain's gymnasts qualified for Saturday's men's team final, although Rio Olympic champion Max Whitlock failed to make the final of the floor.

Whitlock, James Hall, Dom Cunningham, Courtney Tulloch and Joe Fraser produced a score of 252.496 to qualify in second spot behind Russia (259.427).

Whitlock came up short on the floor, but will compete for pommel horse gold.

Tulloch (rings) Fraser (bar & parallel bars), Hall (bar) and Cunningham (floor) are also in individual finals.

Whitlock will have his work cut out in the pommel after Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan, who defeated him at the Commonwealth Games, produced the best mark in qualifying.

The Briton's 14.9 was the third best score, with McClenaghan posting 15.266.

Whitlock said: "I just need to clean it up a bit more, but I'm happy with my score for that routine. Hopefully, I can make that jump up on Sunday."

Earlier, the South Essex gymnast said he has been denied historic moments similar to those achieved by swimmer Adam Peaty because of the sport's points system.

Gymnastics scrapped its famous 10-point system in 2006 with decimal points used to measure performances.

"It's gutting when you see how records are recognised in swimming," said the British double Olympic champion.

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The 25-year-old added: "It must have been huge back then because it was so simple to follow. You aim for the 'perfect 10' and if you get 9.9 you're getting close to it. Now you're scoring 15.6 or 14.225, and it's too hard to understand.

"It really frustrates me. Gymnastics is a difficult sport to follow and we need to find ways to engage our audience."

Meanwhile, Whitlock has set his sights on competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris - where he would be 31 years old.

He said: "It does get harder as you get older but hopefully I can keep going for as long as I can."