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Commonwealth Games Preview: Louis Smith

Expert
29th July, 2014
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Louis Smith describes himself on his Twitter profile as a ‘British bad ass gymnast’. That perfectly summarises the hyper-talented young man from Cambridgeshire, England. He is a larger-than-life athlete, perfectly suited to the world of social media and around-the-clock access.

A cursory internet search for Louis Smith throws up a plethora of different topics in quick succession: silver and bronze medals, fashion designing, Strictly Come Dancing, partying, battles with ADHD, his MBE and before and after pictures of his abs.

Smith is the kind of athlete that generates headlines as well as competition results. His flamboyant dress sense, constant interactions on social media and appearances in the tabloid press mean he is as well known off the mat as on it.

What am I competing in?
Smith is a gymnast who specialises in the pommel horse event. Giddy up.

Am I any good?
Smith doesn’t just generate tabloid chatter; he is legitimately very good at his sport. He was the first British gymnast to place at the Olympics since 1928 when he won bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games. He followed that up with silver in the London Games as well as a bronze in the men’s team event.

As well as those Olympic performances, he has a silver and two bronze medals to his name in various World Championships and a gold and a bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. That is all topped off with a gold medal and a bag of silver at European championships.

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Even before he steps into the arena at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Smith has achieved enough to secure his place in any list of English modern gymnastics greats.

Form heading into the Commonwealth Games
This is where things get a bit trickier. Smith declared after the 2012 Olympics that he would step away from his sport and focus on being a fashion designer, saying, “I am over the moon with everything I have achieved in the sport. And I think it is best that I go out on top and don’t become a has been.”

After Beijing and leading into the London Games, Smith found it hard to stay at the “top for the next four years, which is hard in a sport like gymnastics”. Perhaps doing so was too tough mentally after the heightened emotions of a home Olympics.

There doesn’t appear to be any clothing range as of yet, but the man who wants Cuba Gooding Jr to play him in a movie about his life is attempting a final act in at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Who’s my competition?
The biggest direct competition for Smith appears to be an up-and-coming compatriot. Max Whitlock, 21, won the European Championships gold medal on the pommel, beating the London Olympics gold medallist, Krisztian Berki of Hungary. That performance may in fact bump Smith down to dark horse favourite rather than a clear returning champion-status.

When formally announcing his comeback, Smith said the Commonwealth Games would be his last hurrah and he would be free to compete knowing he’d already achieved everything he wanted to in the sport. He’ll need to make the most of that pressure-free feeling to pull off a swansong victory in a sport that often favours youth.

Away from the pommel horse
There isn’t much Smith hasn’t achieved in his event. He is a very talented athlete, but there’s a lot more to the man than his gymnastics.

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In England he followed up his London Games performance by staring in the 2012 series of Strictly Come Dancing. This series catapulted him to an even higher level of fame than he had achieved by merely winning medals.

If it strikes you as unfair to put an Olympic-fit athlete with the coordination of a Greek-god – if his pommel horse routines are anything to go by – into a celebrity dancing competition, you’d be correct. He won the competition with a string of unbeatable results in the final rounds – something you’d expect when you consider how used to the scrutiny of a scored event he would be as a gymnast.

A regular in the tabloid media, Smith also regularly posts on Twitter and Instagram. He had been providing tips for the England team at the FIFA World Cup – the less said about that the better – as well as sharing pics of his abs and posting videos of him re-enacting scenes from Dennis the Menace in his own kitchen. A quick perusal of his Twitter feed will also reveal his progress towards the Commonwealth Games, including a broken finger during training.

Fast facts
Name: Louis Smith
Event: Pommel horse
Turned professional: won Junior championships in 2004 and 2006, big senior breakthrough came at 2006 Commonwealth Games with a gold medal.
Notable career achievements: Two Olympic bronze medals, Olympic silver medal, World Championships silver medal, two World Championships bronze medals, European Championships gold medal, four European Championships silver medals.
Social following: 219,000 followers on Twitter @louissmith1989 and on Instagram louissmith1989.

This article was first published on the Tenplay website here.

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