Gymnast Reuben Ward secured Scotland’s third gold medal of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, triumphing in the individual all-round event with a score of 79.650.
Although he is from Bury in Greater Manchester, his parents hail from East Kilbride, and he considers the town a second home. Competing in Scotland for the event carried deep personal significance.
Glasgow and East Kilbride have been like second homes to me my entire life so to do it here is incredibly special,
Ward said, according to reporting on the competition.
How Ward Climbed to the Top of the Standings
There was a sense beforehand that Ward could contend for a medal—perhaps a bronze or a silver depending on how things unfolded. Team-mates who saw him in training and performed alongside him in the team event on Friday, where Scotland finished fourth, privately believed gold was within reach if everything fell in his favour. They knew he was in a good place.
The individual all-round final tested every aspect of his routine. Ward sat seventh after the floor exercise, but streaked into the lead after a splendid performance on the pommel – routinely his strongest event. He retained that advantage after the rings – by which point assorted Team Scotland officials and members of the Scottish media had arrived in dribs and drabs, with the sniff of a gold in the air.
His vault had been compromised in the team event by a slight issue in his run up – he had to adapt it on the fly and could only execute two twists – but he nailed it this time, performing three to go into the final two rotations top of the standings.
A strong showing in the parallel bars—bolstered by a judicious Team Scotland appeal to add an extra 0.100—maintained his lead at 0.550, meaning he needed to keep his shape in the horizontal bar to clinch gold.
Ward did that and more. As he stuck his landing, his coach Jake Seager fell to his knees celebrating before the two embraced. It wasn’t official yet, but they knew.
“I like to imagine the best scenario possible and that was winning,”
Reuben Ward, via BBC
Overtaking Expectations After Early Heartbreak
The victory was a dramatic turnaround from the opening days of the gymnastics schedule. Falling short on Friday was heartbreaking, and Ward admitted he could barely put words together afterwards.
It kept me awake a little bit because I was picturing it and feeling the emotions,
Ward said, reflecting on his pre-competition thoughts on Saturday night. But this beat the expectations by a mile. Falling short on Friday was heartbreaking and I’m just so overwhelmed, man. I can barely put words together.
Team Scotland officials and members of the Scottish media arrived in dribs and drabs as the sniff of a gold grew stronger through the rotations. By the time Ward completed his apparatus rotation, the arena witnessed a significant milestone for the host nation’s gymnastics contingent, including special moments when they came to see him at the end when he was going around the arena.
More Apparatus Finals Ahead
Celebrations must wait as Ward prepares for further competition. He goes on the floor and pommel on Monday, and is a real medal contender in the latter, alongside taking part in the rings.
For now, his immediate schedule involves eating hotel food and probably getting a pretty bad night’s sleep before coming in on Sunday to try and relax and hit his routine. On Tuesday, after the competition, he plans to celebrate big time with the team, with his boys whom he loves so much, and he is hoping they will get to experience a bit of Glasgow.
Worth a look
