London 2012 Olympics: Nguyan leaves it late to snatch silver from Leyva

Japan’s Kohei Uchimura won individual all-round gold at the North Greenwich arena as British duo Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis secured Britain’s best ever result in the Olympic competition.

Uchimura was not at his scintillating best but scored 92.690 to see off the challenge of German Marcel Nguyen in silver medal position with American Danell Leyva in bronze, just under two points off the lead. Britain’s Thomas finished seventh and Purvis 13th.

American Leyva topped qualification but faltered on the pommel horse, leaving the door open for Japanese opponents Uchimura and Kazuhito Tanaka, but he battled back from his shaky start and put himself in contention with an 
excellent bars routine, while Nguyen’s strong high bar routine lifted him into the medal positions.

Tanaka saw his medal hopes crumble thanks to a fall on the pommel horse as Uchimura played it safe on high bar then finished off on floor to take gold. Leyva moved up into silver medal position after nailing his high bar routine. But Nguyen – the last to finish – scored 15.300 on the floor to snatch second spot in a dramatic finale.