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Smith ends 96 years of hurt to claim his gymnastics bronze
Evening Standard 18 Aug 2008
Louis Smith became the first Briton in almost a century to win an individual medal in Olympic gymnastics.
The 19-year-old from Peterborough took an unexpected bronze in the pommel horse final yesterday - he was in silver medal position with a score of 15.725 but the final competitor, Filip Ude from Croatia, finished on the same score with fewer deductions on countback.
China's three-time reigning world champion Xiao Qin claimed gold with a score of 15.785.
Smith's medal is the first since Walter Tysal won silver in the individual all-around in the 1912 Stockholm Games.
Smith said: "It's crazy. It makes all those 14 years of hard work worth it.
"I was emotional, scared and nervous. It was a completely different level."
