English gymnast learnt he had won silver while in a neck brace after fall
English gymnast learnt he had won silver while in a neck brace after fall
Jeremy Wilson Mon, July 27, 2026 at 8:09 PM UTC
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Gabriel Langton shows off the silver medal he won despite suffering a horrific fall - PA
Gabriel Langton, the gymnast who suffered a horrific fall at the Commonwealth Games, has revealed that he only discovered that he had won a medal while lying in a medical room in a neck brace.
Langton was competing on the high bar in Friday evening’s team event when he fell, landed on his head and lay motionless on the mat.
The incident prompted widespread concern, with broadcasters TNT Sports immediately cutting away from the live pictures.
Medical personnel attended to Langton before he was taken to hospital, with the 19-year-old now thankful to have avoided life-changing injuries.
Medical staff attend to Langton after his fall in Glasgow - Ross MacDonald/SNS Group
England were trailing Canada when the final rotation began, but the Canadians held on to win the event, with England claiming silver, while Australia took bronze.
Langton was released after 24 hours in hospital when scans showed he had escaped with heavy bruising to his neck.
“It was about 10 or 15 minutes later,” he said, of being told by a coach that he had won a medal. “He was slightly worried, but to make it a bit more positive he told me straight away: ‘You have either just won a gold or silver medal with your team, so congratulations’.
“Initially I thought I needed to get back on the bar to finish my routine. The team were behind. It felt like I could have contributed to the team score. So I was disappointed in myself.
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“Then more medical staff came up and I was like, ‘I’m probably not going to get back on the bar now’. I was just frustrated that had happened at that moment. Then when adrenaline wore out a bit, I was in some pain.”
Asked whether he feared serious injury, Langton said: “On the evening of when it happened, and then the early morning after, I was struggling to ignore that side of it because I didn’t know. I knew I could talk still, I could move a lot of things. Then when I got the scans back, it was a big relief.”
Langton did not lose consciousness during the incident but could tell from the reactions of both the crowd and the medics that it was potentially serious.
“I remember pretty much all of it,” he said. “Because we were slightly behind in the competition, I remember trying to go for as close to perfection as I could. It went slightly wrong and then I was in quite a lot of pain when I fell down.
“I heard a lot of people in the arena, as they went ‘ooh’. I got told to stay as still as I could on the mat. Then I was in a brace so I couldn’t look around and see people’s reactions.”
Luke Whitehouse replaced Langton in the rotation and stepped up to the high bar shortly after. Langton, who was only called up to replace Max Whitlock for Team England days ago after the three-time Olympic gold medallist pulled out with a hand injury, was on the final rotation in the final gymnastics session of the day when the fall occurred.
Langton (right) was replaced by England team-mate Luke Whitehouse (second left) once the competition resumed - Jane Barlow/PA
A spokesperson from Team England said: “Gabriel was transferred to the hospital as a precautionary measure overnight and underwent multiple scans, with very positive results. Thankfully, he has been cleared of any serious injury complications.
“He is in good spirits and hugely grateful for the many messages of support and the excellent care provided by the medical teams.”
Source: “AOL Sports”
