Gymnast Jake Jarman won his first Olympic medal with bronze in the men’s floor exercise.
The 22-year-old impressed with a score of 14.933 to take his place on the podium, just 0.067 off gold which was taken by Carlos Yulo of Philippines. Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat won silver with 14.966.
The performance added a maiden Olympic medal to his burgeoning collection, that includes three European and one world titles.
Three of those came on vault, which Jarman will contest on Sunday at Paris 2024 in a bid to become just the third British gymnast to win two medals at the same Games, after Max Whitlock and Louis Smith.
"I'm lost for words to be honest,” he said. “This medal means everything to me. I've had a lot of people in my life that helped me to get where I am today.
“I couldn't do it without the support they gave to me. I hope I made a lot of people proud. Honestly, I couldn't be happier.”
Jarman came into the final with the highest score from qualifying but insisted that did not add any pressure onto his performance amidst an impressive field.
"To be honest I told myself I'm not a European champion, not a world champion on floor,” he added.
“I've only got one European bronze medal on floor. So statistically, I've not got the best success rate on this piece! That kind of helped me to put my self-expectations down.
"I said to myself: just do the best you can. Especially after seeing there were two ridiculously high scores up first.
“I knew it was going to be insanely hard. I just wanted to enjoy it, do the best I can. Whatever happens, happens. I did that and it worked, so I can't be any prouder of myself."
Jarman was joined in the final by two-time European floor champion Luke Whitehouse, who finished sixth with a score of 14.466.
Whitehouse, 22, faced a nervous wait as the last gymnast to go, but narrowly missed out on an individual medal on his Olympic debut despite a strong performance.
“I was down on difficulty because of my second tumble and the score was lower than I thought it was going to be, but I am happy,” he said. “I have not watched the routine back yet.
“That is one of the best floor finals I have ever witnessed and so to be part of that, I am proud.”
Both Jarman and Whitehouse bounced back from narrowly missing out on a team medal earlier in the week, and the latter was thrilled to see his teammate on the podium.
“Jake has not put a foot wrong on the floor all week, I am very proud of him,” he added.
“The whole team have been very proud each other, we all play a part in the journey.”
Sportsbeat 2024