Kristian Thomas wins bronze at European Gymnastics Championships
Wolverhampton's Kristian Thomas hailed a "fantastic" day after he claimed individual bronze to add to team silver at the European Gymnastics Championships in Sofia.
Thomas recovered from the disappointment of Great Britain losing their team title on Saturday by claiming a bronze medal in the high bar yesterday.
Max Whitlock saw off the challenge of Olympic pommel horse champion Krisztian Berki to win gold on the apparatus.
Thomas was satisfied with bronze after a tough final which saw one of the favourites, Germany's Fabian Hambuchen, fall and fail to continue his routine.
"It was pretty tense so to come out with the bronze medal - my first individual European medal - is fantastic," said 25-year-old Thomas.
"My routine wasn't perfect but my experience got me through, we are all so well prepared and know how to fight for the medals and that's what I did."
Whitlock, who claimed an Olympic bronze behind silver medallist Louis Smith at London 2012, produced a routine which scored 16.166 - a score which would have eclipsed Berki's Olympic gold medal-winning mark by a tenth of a point.
The 21-year-old Hemel Hempstead-born gymnast was the sixth to compete on the apparatus and set an unassailable target after surpassing Hungarian Berki's score of 15.633.
Meanwhile, Dan Purvis won a bronze medal in the floor final behind Russia's Denis Abliazin and Greece's Elfetherios Kosmidis with a routine of 15.400. Whitlock finished in fifth place with 15.333.
Sam Oldham won his second silver medal of the competition ahead of Thomas in the high bar.
He scored 14.866 to finish behind Olympic champion Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands (15.866), while Thomas won bronze with 14.808.
It capped an impressive week for the British men, although they were disappointed not to retain their team title.
Following his gold medal-winning performance, Whitlock said: "I'm really, really happy. I've worked so hard on my routines and am always trying to up my game to stay ahead of the competition.
"To produce under that level of pressure and expectancy and win ahead of a legend like Krisztian Berki feels fantastic.
"My routine is high on difficulty but I'm never satisfied. From here I'm going to be looking to push on even further.
"It feels fantastic to have won this medal and I'm determined to go on and win more in the future."
