Daniel Purvis misses out on medal in Glasgow

Daniel Purvis brought his best to Glasgow again last night, but an excellent showing by the Scot was not enough to secure his third World Gymnastics Championships medal.

Team GB's Daniel Purvis earned a score of 14.466 following a good landing from the rings at the SSE Hydro last night. Picture: SNS

The 24-year-old won an historic silver medal for Great Britain in the team all-around competition on Wednesday, and strung another six excellent routines together at the SSE Hydro in the individual final.

Purvis did claim a world individual bronze medal back in 2010 in the floor exercise, but fell short of that this time around as he ended up seventh overall, improving on his 2014 individual all-around finish of 11th.

In the end there was just over one point separating him from the bronze medal, but having improved his total all-around score by 1.365 Purvis was ecstatic with the performance.

“I’m really, really happy with that,” he said. “Last year I finished 11th with a clean competition and this year it’s seventh, so I’m just really satisfied that all my training is paying off.

“To be able to compete to such a high level in this final in a home arena, I really couldn’t be happier.

“A lot of people may just look at the fact that I didn’t come away with a medal, but I know myself that all the hard work is paying off, and it’s really looking good heading towards Rio. That is of course the main aim for me, so I’ll be getting back in the gym to try and improve again.

“It was hard to refocus for this after Wednesday, but at the same time I would say my experience at the Olympic games was quite similar, only having a day’s rest.

“I didn’t do too well in the all-around final because everything was just too much, and I’ve always regretted that. So I knew how to handle it more this time and I’m pleased that I managed to learn form that.”

Purvis opened his evening with another excellent demonstration of his floor routine, and while it was not quite the 15.400 that he managed in the team final, a score of 15.166 left him fifth after the first rotation.

Up next was the pommel, and despite a slip at the start Purvis still ground out 14.666, before a solid routine and an even better landing earned him 14.466 on the rings to reach the halfway point sixth overall.

A small step forward on his landing meant Purvis’s vault score was 14.900, but he went into the final rotation still in sixth after notching up an impressive 15.400 on his preferred parallel bars event.

And, after a 14.466 from his final horizontal bar routine, Purvis’s spot inside the top eight was secure, with Japan’s Kohei Uchimura claiming gold for the sixth straight time.

Afterwards Purvis admitted all he wanted to do was place an arm round team-mate Max Whitlock – whose fall on the same apparatus cost him the chance of claiming his second silver medal in a week.

He said: “I just felt upset for Max. I saw him fall before my parallel bar routine and I knew that he was in with a big chance of a medal.

“There’s no competition there between us. I was just wanting to hit my routines and get inside that top eight. But it’s fantastic for us to have two guys in the all-around top eight. We came second in the world in the team event and it definitely shows individually.

“We’ve got so many good lads and Max and I are very pleased to be where we are.”

Next up for Purvis is the individual floor final today. After a hugely impressive week so far, he is confident of claiming his first individual world championship medal in five years in front of a home crowd.

But with a silver medal and a place at Rio already secured from these championships, Purvis insists he is not feeling the pressure.

“I’m definitely confident heading into tomorrow,” he said. “The team final was really fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of that, and doing well there was the main aim.

“So I feel like I can go into tomorrow and just enjoy it. I’d love to come away with another medal but we’ll see.

“I think it’s quite an open final to be honest. You’ve got Kenzo Shirai who is pretty awesome and will definitely do well, and Max’s floor routine looks amazing too.

“I think bronze is up for grabs for sure, so I’ll get a leg massage this evening, freshen up, and just try and stick some landings.

“The last time I got a floor medal at the World championships was five years ago, and it would be brilliant to get one at home.”

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