Commonwealth Games / Gymnastics: Thomas sweeps the floor

NEIL THOMAS collected his second gold medal in as many days when he won the gymnastics floor exercise title yesterday to go with his triumph in the all-round event on Sunday. Thomas, England's leading gymnast, produced a dazzling display on the mat to beat Kristan Burley of Canada in the opening discipline, his strongest event and the one which brought him two silver medals at the World Championships.

The 26-year-old student from Liverpool, performing seventh out of the eight competitors, knew that he had to beat Burley's mark of 9.43. From the first somersault there seemed little doubt that Thomas would do it, and he finished with a score of 9.66.

Thomas's hopes of a medal in the rings event evaporated when he landed badly. The blemish was reflected in a sixth-best mark of 8.62. But Thomas's loss was Lee McDermott's gain. The England No 2 produced the top performance in his strongest event and took the gold medal with 9.47, ahead of Peter Hogan of Australia (9.27).

Most of the medals in the six individual apparatus events went to Australians, who finished the day with three gold, two silver and four bronze medals. But Thomas collected another bronze medal in the vault, despite failing on his first landing.