Max Whitlock wins gold at Glasgow World Cup
Monday 14 March 2016 10:48, UK
Max Whitlock led throughout the competition to win gold for Britain at the Glasgow World Cup as compatriots Dan Purvis and Claudia Fragapane took bronze at the Emirates Arena.
Whitlock, 23, posted a final score of 89.299 points to become champion in the first competition of the year, putting him in a good position for the Olympics this summer.
Leading from the first apparatus, the 2012 double Olympic bronze medal winner posted a score of 15.033 on the floor and followed it with a 15.500 on the Pommel horse - enough to establish a lead he retained until the end.
Fellow Team GB member Purvis took the bronze with 86.465, narrowly finishing behind Brazil's Arthur Mariano (86.598). Purvis posted his biggest score of the day (15.166) on his penultimate apparatus, the parallel bars, but Mariano secured silver with a score of 15.133 on the horizontal bar.
Speaking after the event, Whitlock said "My target coming in was to do clean routines and I'm happy to do that on all six pieces and come out with a good score and a gold medal."
Eighteen-year-old Fragapane started well but an unfortunate slip on the uneven bars left her in sixth position after the second of four apparatus. The four-time Commonwealth gold medalist rallied in the final event, achieving the highest score of the day on the floor (14.366) to push her into the bronze medal position.
Fragapane finished with a total of 55.398, behind USA's Mykayla Skinner (56.999) and Germany's Elisabeth Seitz (55.732).
The event, which sees the world's top eight male and female gymnasts from around the world, is the only round of the FIG World Cup series to be held in the UK.
