European title joy as Halifax gymnastics star Whitehouse makes history

Whitehouse retained his European crown on the floor exercise and in the process became the first male British gymnast to win three consecutive European Championship titles.

He was also part of the successful Great Britain line-up that triumphed to bring home the team title.

It was a fantastic start for Great Britain in the team final, with stellar performances in which all five gymnasts went clean across 24 routines.

Luke brought home the title with the very last routine of the competition on floor.

He was competing alongside his fellow West Yorkshire gymnasts, Harry Hepworth and Jonas Rushworth, from Leeds, along with Jake Jarman (Huntingdon) and Jamie Lewis (Woking).

The title was won with a score of 427.528 from Switzerland in second place (425.727) and Italy third (242.862).

The team final acts as qualification for the all around final and individual apparatus finals, with Halifax’s star gymnast making it into the all around final in third spot and also into the floor final.

In the all around final Luke fell down the pack to finish in 22nd, but said: “Whilst disappointing, I did my job in the team final and was pleased with two strong routines on floor and rings and more great experience.”

On floor, Whitehouse was second up from the eight finalists and showed his style and composure, completing the highest difficulty routine, including his huge triple back, and closing out the routine by sticking his landing, thereby adding a bonus point and a huge 14.5 points scored.

It was more than enough to bring him another title in great style.

Fellow teammate Harry Hepworth took silver with 14.366, making it a fantastic one-two for Great Britain. Third place went to Lorenzo Casali, from Italy, with 13.966.

Luke has become a four-times European champion equalling the most number of gold medals any British gymnast has won at the European Championships, now sitting alongside Max Whitlock and Jake Jarman.

Next up for Luke is the British Team Championship next weekend in Basildon, then he is back out to Germany for the World University Games at the end of July and hoping for selection for the World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia in October.