HE MIGHT have claimed a stunning World Gymnastics Championship silver medal for Great Britain, but Thundersley's Brinn Bevan admitted anything more than bronze had not even crossed his mind.

It was job done early on for the 18-year-old at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on Wednesday evening, as his opening pommel horse score of 13.966 was swiftly bettered by a phenomenal 15.133 in the vault to see Britain to third place at the halfway point of the team all-around final.

In the end they were less than half a point away from Japan who topped the podium, but going into the final rotation at the SSE Hydro in fourth it looked like it might not happen for Bevan’s side.

However, brilliance on the floor from Dan Purvis and Max Whitlock saw them edge out reigning champions China and the USA to claim Great Britain’s first ever World Championships men’s team medal.

“We definitely knew we were in the mix going into that final rotation, but to be honest we thought we’d be going for the bronze medal,” said Bevan, a former Deanes School pupil.

“It was pretty open between a few countries but to walk away with a silver medal at the end of everything is an unreal feeling and I wasn’t expecting it.

“We just went into the final hoping to hit our routines as best we could. I was only involved in the first couple of pieces, so I was sat on the side for the rest of it being a bit of a cheerleader and having no control.

“That is hard but you have absolute trust in the team, and the home crowd was so loud at times it was hard to even hear yourself. We were all behind each other and I think that helped us so much.”

That was the last action of the week for Bevan, who missed out on qualifying for the individual pommel horse and vault finals over the weekend’s qualifying stages.

But the South Essex Gymnastics Club athlete was still over the moon with his haul from a first ever appearance at a World Championships, and believes it will stand him in good stead for next summer’s Olympics in Rio.

He added: “It’s my first year as a senior and my first world stage call-up, so I was just happy to be a part of it, and to walk away with silverware has made it even better.

“Hopefully now we’ll be pushing for a medal in Rio, but you never know what can happen on the day in a gymnastics competition, so fingers crossed.”

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