Dan Purvis confessed last night he was stunned after suffering a shock axe from the British gymnastics team for next month’s Olympic Games.
The London 2012 bronze medallist, 25, was part of the team that captured world silver last year before picking up a matching medal at this year’s European Championships in Bern.
But after coming fifth in the all-round competition at the final trials event in London earlier this month, the Scot has been dropped in favour of 19-year-old Brinn Bevan in a five-strong men’s squad for Rio that also includes pommel horse world champion Max Whitlock and three-time Olympic medallist Louis Smith, plus Nile Wilson and Kristian Thomas.
“Gutted I haven't made the Olympic team,” he said via Twitter. “Really thought I'd done enough, gave it my all. Congrats to my team mates and all the best in Rio.”
British Gymnastics declined to comment on why Purvis, arguably the squad’s most consistent performers, was cut at the eleventh hour with selectors gambling on Smith to hit top form.
“We are delighted to have selected a group of world-class gymnasts who go to the Games in great form and confident of achieving successful results across the board,” said performance chief Alan Edge. “This Olympic cycle has seen historic performances at World and European Championships that have firmly established Great Britain amongst the top gymnastics nations.
“We have a very unified team, our gymnasts are very well prepared and looking forward to not only the experience of the Games but also to proving themselves and producing their best performances.”
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Claudia Fragapane heads the women’s squad with Ruby Harrold, Amy Tinkler and sisters Becky and Ellie Downie.
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