Louis Smith, Team Great Britain



Louis Smith is a 2012 Olympian for Great Britain. He trains at Huntingdon Gymnastics under Paul Hall. As a Junior, Smith was a two-time European Champion on his strongest event, the pommel horse. He won the title in 2004 and 2006. In 2007, Smith came in fourth on the pommel horse in event finals at the European Championships. He also attended his first World Championships in 2007, where he won a bronze medal in the pommel horse finals. 

In 2008 he competed in his first Olympic games representing Great Britain and qualified for the pommel horse event final. In the finals he earned a bronze medal. At the 2009 European Championships, Smith won his first silver medal on the pommel horse as a Senior. At the 2010 European Championships, he helped lead Great Britain's men team to a silver medal and individually took silver in the pommel horse in 2010. Also in 2010, Smith once again took silver on the pommel horse at the World Championships.

Recently, at the 2011 World Championships, Smith qualified for the pommel horse event finals and was awarded bronze, placing behind 2010 World Champion Krisztian Berki and Cyril Tommasone. This year, Smith took silver on the pommel horse at the European Championships. Louis Smith is a definite contender for the gold medal on the pommel horse in front of a home crowd in London. 

Interesting Facts

• Smith competes a routine with a 7.1 D-score which is the highest in the world on the pommel horse.
  
• So far in 2012, Smith is credited with the highest overall score with a 16.375.
• The bronze medal Smith won at the 2008 Olympics was the first individual medal for Great Britain in 100 years!
• In 2010 Louis joined Lucozade Sport as an Ambassador.
• Smith was the first Briton to win a medal in gymnastics at the Olympic Games since the women's team won a bronze medal in 1928.
• He is the second black male gymnast to win a medal in an Olympic competition. The first was Jair Lynch of the United States in 1996, a silver medalist on the parallel bars.

Louis Smith training pommel horse at the 2011 World Championships

Watch more video of Louis Smith on gymnastike.org