- Gymnast admits to ‘nerve-racking’ qualification
- Japan’s Kohei Uchimura exits after peeling off horizontal bar
Max Whitlock was not quite at his best as he stepped up to the pommel horse on Saturday afternoon. In the second half of his routine he suffered a notable form break, then fought hard to maintain his rhythm. But what is most important in the tense qualification round where medals can only be lost, not won, is that he managed to do so.
He finished with a score of 14.900, advancing to the pommel horse final in fifth place and he was satisfied. “Qualifications is a nerve-racking event, the hardest one, because the rest of the Olympic Games rides on that,” said Whitlock. “I’m really, really pleased with my events today.”
