Great Britain’s pommel horse duo: Louis Smith and Daniel Keatings
In 2007 a couple of British youngsters headed to Stuttgart, Germany for their very first world championships. Eighteen-year-old Louis Smith and seventeen-year-old Daniel Keatings were probably just ecstatic to be competing against the world’s best, but both surprised many around the world by making the event finals on pommel horse. While the unstoppable Chinese sensation Xiao Qin swung effortlessly to his third world title, Louis Smith kept his composure in the biggest event of his life and won a rare bronze medal for Great Britain – the first medal for a British man since Neil Thomas’s silver on floor in 1994. Daniel Keatings – just eight months younger than his teammate – faltered in the finals and ended up 7th. But both had set themselves up for a bright future – starting with the 2008 Olympic Games that were less than a year away.
Both of the new pommel horse stars had strong difficulty scores of 6.5, which was among the highest in the world and only one tenth behind the 6.6 of three-time world champion Xiao Qin. When the qualifications in Beijing rolled around, both Smith and Keatings hit clean routines…but Keatings left out three tenths in difficulty and was given a 6.2 difficulty score. Smith notched a strong 15.325 and appeared to be a lock for the finals, while Keatings’ 15.175 seemed a bit more questionable. When the qualifications were complete, Keating became the first British man to make an Olympic final since 1920 – 88 years! Keatings ended up in a tie for 8th, but an unfortunate tie-breaking rule left him out of the final, despite scoring identically to two other finals qualifiers. Smith would have to leave his teammate and friend behind as he attempted to win Britain’s first individual Olympic gymnastics medal in exactly 100 years.
Smith went all out in the event finals – adding two tenths of difficulty for a 6.7, the most difficult routine of the finals. His risk paid off. Smith won the bronze medal with an enormous 15.725 and became the first British individual to win an Olympic gymnastics medal since 1908. The last Olympics medal period for Great Britain in gymnastics was the women’s team in 1928. Teammate Daniel Keatings did make the all-around finals, where he finished an impressive 20th place at just 18 years of age. Although he was undoubtedly thrilled for his teammate who had just made history for his country, one has to wonder the “what-if’s” that must have been going through Keatings’ mind.
In 2009 the British duo both made the finals at the European Championships in Milan, Italy. Both turned in clean performances with 6.5 D-scores, with Smith winning the silver with a 15.55 and Keatings taking the bronze with a 15.5. Hungary’s Kristzian Berki took gold with a 15.6.
Smith attempted to add another item to his resume by trying out for Britain’s X-Factor, a talent show similar to American Idol and judged by a celebrity panel that includes the famous Simon Cowell. After hearing each contestant’s audition, the panel decides whether the contestant has “The X-Factor” and is worthy of continuing in the competition. The panel apparently wasn’t too impressed with Smith’s singing, as he received four “no’s” from the panel. The classy and popular 20-year-old chalked it up to experience and stated that gymnastics and the upcoming world championships were still his number one priority.
Both Smith and Keatings are on the preliminary rosters to compete at the world championships in their home country this coming week, and both will be two of the favorites for not only making the pommel horse final, but for winning medals in front of a home crowd. China’s Zhong Hangtao – and possibly Xiao Qin if he turns out to be on the team – will be the favorites for gold, but the British duo will undoubtedly be frontrunners for silver or bronze, and may be among the first to step atop the podium if the Chinese falter. Let’s take a look at some of the pommel horse routines of these two, which will surely be a highlight of these worlds in London:
Louis Smith Pommel Horse 2008 Olympics Event Finals
Daniel Keatings Pommel Horse 2008 Olympics AA Finals
Louis Smith Pommel Horse 2009 European Championships Event Finals
Daniel Keatings Pommel Horse 2009 European Championships Event Finals
I can’t say I care for Louis Smith’s toe point, but both of their sets are loaded. Keatings’ triple Russian in the middle of the pommel horse is one of the coolest and most difficult skills being done in the world. I would love to see both of these guys in the finals in London this week…surely the crowd is going to go NUTS for these guys!