A sickening injury to England's Gabriel Langton overshadowed his team's silver medal in the men's team gymnastics final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The 19-year-old fell head first to the floor after missing his catch on the horizontal metal bar, three metres in the air.
Medical staff rushed to Langton's aid after the fall in the final rotation of the evening at The Arena. A dozen medical staff tended to him on the mat, leading to a lengthy delay in the action.
Langton was eventually led away on a trolley after being moved onto a stretcher with his head and neck braced, to huge applause from the packed crowd. He was seen to be conscious and moving his legs and arms before leaving the arena floor, while team officials later said he was moving and speaking to doctors.
Team England released a statement saying they were grateful to the medical teams who responded immediately to provide assistance. Langton was taken to hospital, and team officials will share more information when it is available.
Langton's team-mates were unable to overhaul their deficit to Canada, who claimed their first gold medal in the event in 20 years. They finished second to England at the past two games.
Team-mate Luke Whitehouse said: "When something like that happens, you've just got to forget about it and reset. I just had to focus on my routine one skill at a time." He added: "From what we've heard, he's doing OK."
Fellow competitor Felix Dolci, who helped Canada to gold, said: "It's terrible but it goes to show that gymnastics is a very, very difficult and complicated sport. It's dangerous you know sometimes." He added: "All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team."
Hamish Carter from Team Scotland, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal to Australia, said: "I didn't actually see what happened. I'm just so happy that he's alright and, having experienced that, anything could have happened."
The silver medal is a consolation for England, who will be focusing on Langton's recovery. The Commonwealth Games will continue with various events over the coming days.
Source: Yahoo Sports