Rio 2016: Team GB's gymnastics dreams dashed as Louis Smith falls from pommel horse at the death

Japan took gold after a thrilling night in which Shirai Kenzo produced a dazzling floor routine which ultimately sealed the title

Louis Smith cannot contain his disappointment in the men's gymnastics (Getty)

Team GB’s dreams of a medal in the men’s team gymnastics were dramatically dashed on Monday night when Louis Smith fell from the pommel horse during the night’s final discipline.

Britain were in seventh place in the standings at the time but with Max Whitlock and Smith, two of the world’s strongest competitors on the horse, to go were set to challenge for the medals.

Smith, who was part of the team that won bronze in London four years ago that catapaulted the members into the nation’s consciousness, was distraught and sat with head in hands while Whitlock nailed a 15.9.

That score lifted Britain up to third - temporarily... Then Russia snuck in with the final score of the night to take silver and bumped China to third and Britain to fourth. Japan took gold after a thrilling night in which Shirai Kenzo produced a dazzling floor routine which ultimately sealed the title.

At last year’s World Championships in Glasgow, Team GB helped to end China’s six-year reign at the pinnacle of the sport only to see Japan slip in and take gold. However a solitary point was all that separated gold from bronze. It was just as tight in Rio on Monday until Smith fell.

It was 19-year-old Brinn Bevan, the surprise selection of the team, who kicked off proceedings for Team GB with a tidy display on the squad’s weakest piece of apparatus, the rings. Max Whitlock, the 23-year-old reigning individual world champion from Essex, followed before Nile Wilson absolutely nailed it.

Smith and Kristian Thomas the senior citizens of Team GB at 27 sat that one out, only three members of each five-man team taking part in any one discipline. As a spectacle gymnastics is a joy, albeit a confusing joy to the uninitiated.

It is hard to know where to look; while Bevan was twirling away on the rings, Lin Chaopan of China was strutting his stuff on the mat and Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov was flying at the pommel horse. There was an artistic floor dance – a sort of mini Opening Ceremony to get the crowd in the mood – before the action kicked off. And the crowd were in the mood.

The Olympic Arena was about 80 per cent full – a healthier return than some venues over the first few days of the Rio Games – and the performances were fully appreciated.

The biggest cheers were reserved for the Brazil team, of course, but there were Japanese and Chinese fans packing the crowd and handfuls of knots of Union Jack waving Brits dotting the stands.

Team GB’s second discipline was the vault, still not their strongest, with Bevan and Whitlock improving on qualifying, although Whitlock missed his landing, and Thomas giving a great performance that earned him a 15.4 (gymnasts usually record between 13 and 16 in the complex scoring system, with higher being better).

As the scores rolled in Russia, Japan, China and Britain were swapping places in the top four. Whitlock, who wasn’t having his proudest night, then fluffed the parallel bars with a score below his qualifying mark but Bevan and Wilson were on the money keeping GB third at half-time with their strongest disciplines to come.

Nile Wilson in action for Team GB (GETTY)

The USA, surprisingly, were well down the ladder and out of the running. Excitement grew as Brazil bounced into contention to huge cheers only for the boos to ring out when a score came in that was below expectation.

The leaderboard was changing quicker than Superman and suddenly Japan were top of the pops and GB out of the top five. Whitlock led the way on the high bars with a 14.5, Thomas backed it up with a 14.8 but Wilson was majestic pulling off a 15.66 with some courageous, heart-stopping spins and a perfect landing that propelled GB back up the ladder.

Whitlock was tidy on the floor with a 15.4 to back up Thomas’ 15 leaving hopes high with GB’s strongest discipline, the horse, to go. Smith’s cruel slip brought those hopes crashing to the floor with him.