GB Students only Olympian and three time reigning European champion Luke Whitehouse arrived in Germany with one thing and one thing only on his mind, walking away with the floor exercise gold medal.
Up first, qualification. Rings, Pommel Horse, Parallel bars and floor layer ahead of the athlete for Leeds Beckett University. A great showing across the board saw the team finish in ninth place and Luke qualify in first place for the floor final with a score of 14.566.
A couple of days rest in between qualification and finals gave Luke the opportunity to prefect his routine and that he did. Luke was fourth on the floor after fellow GB athlete Sam Mostowfi. One deep breathe in away he went, Luke was in his element doing what he does best, he really put on masterclass in front of a packed German crowd full of GB support. As the routine went out Luke proved why he was three time European champion and finished his routine to a roar from the crowd.
With Luke competing fourth there was an agonising wait to see if repeat score of 14.566 was enough to earn him the gold medal, especially with Olympic gold medal holder Shinnosuke OKA still to head to the mat. Ultimately each opponent came to the floor but no one could match Luke’s score and with the final competitors score flashing up on screen he was confirmed as champion.
This gold medal marks GB Students first gold medal of the games and adds to the current tally of seven medals and counting.
After the competition Luke said “It was mine to lose really. I qualified in top spot, six tenths in front of everyone else. If I went through the routine the same as in qualification, then I would be top spot again.”
On becoming the first Great Britain student-athlete to win gold in any sport at these FISU Games:
“To be fair, it was in the back of my mind but I tried not to think of that. I think today the pressure was probably the pressure I put on myself, not from any external factors”
“I think it shows I can compete like this over and over again. Hopefully, going into the world championships (in October), I can do the same.
“Hopefully, this solidifies my spot on the team, but we have still got six, seven weeks until that (world championship) team will be selected. I will have to wait for that.”
