Smith - rules denied me

Louis Smith - Gymnast says pommels silver should've been gold

Louis Smith believes the method of separating gymnasts who record equal marks cost him the pommel horse gold medal at London 2012.

The 23-year-old was awarded the same score as Krisztian Berki in the apparatus final but was demoted to the silver medal position as the Hungarian recorded a higher execution score.

In Gymnastics, the routine is given a mark for its difficulty which is then added to the execution mark (out of 10).

In the event of a tie, the gymnast with the higher score for their performance is placed higher, but Smith thinks that is wrong, as his routine was technically more difficult than his rival's.

Gold

He said: "I think I should have won the gold and he should have won the silver.

"I don't care about sharing medals. My routine was harder and there was more risk involved so I think it should have gone in my favour.

"When the code changed from being scored out of 10 to being scored higher it was supposed to encourage more difficult and more flamboyant routines, so to be penalised for that in the end doesn't make sense.

"I think that needs to be re-looked at, and if they do, hopefully get me a gold.

"If someone has a harder start score it means they are putting more into their routine to make it more exciting and that should be rewarded."

Future

Smith has revealed it could have been his last chance of Olympic glory as he is unlikely to compete in Rio in 2016. However, he thinks the future of British gymnastics is in good hands.

Team GB won bronze in the men's team event whilst Max Whitlock and Beth Tweddle also claimed bronze on the pommel horse and uneven bars respectively.

Smith continued: "I'm confident gymnastics will go from strength to strength.

"We had a dream competition this Olympic Games and although there might be a dip in the next few competitions because you can't expect every competition to be a dream competition, we're certainly on the rise.

"By the time the Olympics come round again we're going to have a much stronger team and a much better team."