The opening night of artistic gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was plunged into shock when England’s Gabriel Langton suffered a sickening fall from the horizontal bar, landing head first on the mat from a height of three metres.
The 19-year-old, a late call-up to replace the injured Max Whitlock, missed his catch during the final rotation of the men’s team final at The Arena. Up to a dozen medical staff rushed to his side, and the competition was suspended for around 20 minutes as Langton was treated on the floor. The crowd fell into hushed silence before erupting into applause as he was stretchered away with his head and neck braced.
“England gymnast Gabriel Langton hospitalised after head-first fall from high bar at Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.”
Langton was seen conscious and moving his arms and legs before leaving the arena. Team England later confirmed he had been taken to hospital. “We are grateful to the medical teams who responded immediately to provide assistance,” a spokesperson said. “He has been taken to hospital and we will share more information when it is available.”
When the event resumed, England’s remaining gymnasts had to recompose themselves. Luke Whitehouse, who went first on the apparatus after the restart and posted a low 11.700, 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 that from what they had heard Langton was “doing OK”.
Canada seized the momentum, winning their first team gold in 20 years with a score of 241.400 points. England took silver on 238.250, unable to bridge the gap, while Australia claimed bronze with 235.650. Scotland’s Hamish Carter narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth.
Canada’s Felix Dolci, who led qualifying for the all-around, said: “It’s terrible but it goes to show that gymnastics is a very, very difficult and complicated sport. All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team. Pushing through this is definitely not easy.”
Langton, a former European junior all-around medallist from the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club, was unable to join his teammates on the podium. The incident served as a stark reminder of the risks gymnasts take, as Whitehouse put it: “Gymnastics is such a dangerous sport and things like this remind us of that.”
