English gymnast suffers horrific fall at Commonwealth Games
Gabriel Langton fell off the high bar after missing a grab midway through his routine and landed on his head and neck.
A horror injury to England’s Gabriel Langton overshadowed his team’s silver medal in the men’s team gymnastics final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
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Langton, who replaced multiple Olympic medallist Max Whitlock in the team earlier this month, fell off the high bar after missing a grab midway through his routine and landed on his head and neck.
The competition was delayed while the 18-year-old received extensive treatment before being taken from the arena on a stretcher and in a neck brace.
Team officials later said he was moving and speaking to doctors.
Later on Friday a team spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the medical teams who responded immediately to provide assistance.
"[Langton] has been taken to hospital and we will share more information when it is available.”
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Langton’s fall did not unduly affect the result, which saw Canada deny England team gold in the event for the first time since the Delhi Games in 2010.
But it clearly had an impact on his team-mates, with a downcast Luke Whitehouse, who had the difficult task of following his stricken team-mate on the high bar, posting a relatively low 11.70, leaving him in 23rd place for the apparatus overall.
Whitehouse, 24, said: “It was really tough. We just had to reset, try to put it to one side mentally and focus on the job we had to do. I think everyone should be proud of the way we carried on after Gabe’s fall.
"We all agreed we’d take another warm-up and bring our energy back into it. There was a delay after the first warm-up, but we regrouped.
"The coaches were fantastic, and the boys who had to go up on high bar were incredible. The togetherness of the team really showed, and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone.”
Led by the experienced Felix Dolci, the Canadians nudged in front by the halfway stage and repelled a strong England fightback before guaranteeing gold with a series of solid floor routines in the final rotation.
England’s relatively inexperienced line-up, led by three-time European champion Whitehouse, and also including Adam Tobin, Alex Yolshin-Cash and Josh Nathan as well as Langton, had hit the front early after a confident floor routine.
As expected, Whitehouse posted the top score of the competition on floor, while Yolshin-Cash also delivered the best parallel bars routine to help give England every chance of of extending their winning streak.
But Dolci was the top scorer on both vault and high bar and he steered his team-mates through their final rotation to confirm victory with 241.400 points, ahead of England’s 238.20.
Hosts Scotland put up a sterling battle for bronze but were just pipped by Australia, whose total of 235.650 proved enough to complete the podium.
The men’s team event also doubled as qualifying for the individual apparatus finals, with Northern Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan only qualifying in third on pommel, behind Scotland’s Reuben Ward and Jordan Carroll of Canada.