Men's Team Final Gymnastics: European Championships

Well, hello and welcome to coverage of the European Gymnasitcs

Championships, live from Bern in Switzerland with Beth Tweddle and

Daniel Keatings. It's all about the man with the women following next

weekend. The competition is about to start. Let's bring you up-to-date

with what's been happening. Great Britain, the 2012 team champions

Waller 548 finals in all including today's team final. They qualified

in second, 0.7 behind Russia. The big news for Great Britain is that

the world champion on the pommel horse Max Whitlock is missing from

Great Britain 's line-up. This is basically to protect him for Rio. He

is worth at least three marks extra for the team total? How much will it

affect the dynamic? Obviously it's a disappointment that Max is not there

but it won't change the dynamic in the team spirit, they are so used to

training together at the National sports centre, they are like a team

of brothers anyway. Whether you have someone else in or out it really

does not matter. We are going to lose his points on the pommel horse

but we will gain on the rings which was weakest piece because Courtney

can score towards 15.5 and he is in the individual final as well. The

first gymnast will be Nile Wilson for Great Britain. He is working

every single piece today, so he has a big job on his hands. The very

first tumble is so important and he lands it cleanly.

That was a super double-twisting double tuck, just a small pace but

kept well inside the white lines. Roll out. Each gymnast is allowed

one of those in the floor routine. Super comptroller on the landing,

there. -- super control. He holds the handstand. That's a

requirement. It is so important to finish the routine well. Another

secure forward tumbling pass. Each of these moves builds the

difficulty. Here comes the big final tumble. Triple twist. Just a little

hop to the side. Very good opening for Great Britain. Superb start.

Each country nominates three gymnasts to compete on each piece

and every single score counts. Every 10th given away will be vital.

Absolutely, solid performance, a few little shovels and places where

judges could take the odd 10th, but Nile is spatially aware and he

stands up well into the twist and opens out to spot the flaw. Maybe

not fully round so that maybe a bit of a deduction. Good consistency,

all three scores to count. Into the live competition so quickly I did

not get the chance to introduce Craig but it's always lovely to have

you with us. We are over with Ukraine now on the pommel horse.

Daniel Keatings is dull with us. Great stuff for Great Britain?

Definitely. -- is still with us. The team with the most clean routines is

going to win this and it's a really important routine. It's quite a

young Ukraine team, lots of gymnasts we are seeing for the first time. He

is just 19 years old. Second at the youth Olympics in 2014 on this

piece. Straight in there, single legwork, into the handstand. And

again. Nice control. Great amplitude, there. With the

separation of the legs. As he winds up into the handstand. That was a

slight mistake. Contact with the horse. Landing heavily. He needs to

regain his composure. Good on one handle. He is starting to settle

into the routine. There is the one handle Circle. Steps down. The

traditional Magyar. He connects. One handle, up into the handstand. A

slight adjustment. Pirouette. A few errors. That was heavy in parts. It

was indeed and that was a heavy hit on the apparatus. Nile has scored

14.9, the first performance, the first of three. Kristian Thomas is

the next gymnast to go, the current European champion on floor. He's in

the floor final tomorrow as well. He is a just Eddie member of Great

Britain's team. They will need all of his composure here. Whip in two

double pike, to Arabian. Quite a tall gymnast, he can't run too far

across before he has to make the tumbles. Double twist, full twisting

front. Good anticipation of the floor. Two and a half twists into

the front somersault with half turn. The judges are looking to deduct for

every error. I love that. An interesting take on a

straightforward handspring to an immediate roll-out. Gymnasts showing

their work close to the floor. Good control in the handstand. Real power

through the shoulders. The judges are looking for clean landings, high

tumbles. Double Arabian, that is a great finish. Just what we have come

to expect from Kristian Thomas. Dan, you are applauding your team-mate! A

lot of pressure in that routine, he is the team captain, and obviously

he is such an amazing person to have in the team because you know he will

always go out there and do the job. 27 years old but still looks by the

much in control and on form. It's amazing what he's doing at the age

that he is. Hopefully he can keep it going and help the team to win more

medals. 14.1 there for the Ukraine. Oleg Verniaiev is the next to go. It

is his sixth World Championships on the pommel horse. His result was

fifth in the European Championships a few years ago. Look at his body

shape. This is the man to watch, straight down to business, fluid up

into the handstand and back down, not a flicker. That's much better.

Oh! There was a slight pause there as he goes back into the single

handle work. Only scored 14 point 283. Maybe this is not his favoured

piece of apparatus. Confident on the one handle. He travels into the

Russian Wendy on the end of the horse. He keeps his momentum up for

the Magyar. He connects straightaway into the Giovanni Vio. Straight into

the handstand, no hesitation into the pirouette dismount. Even at this

early stage the door is open for Switzerland, they are looking to

medal in front of the home crowd. Switzerland ahead in third. Ukraine

are a very young team, they had to go to the test event to qualify for

the Olympics and they did not make the team final at the World

Championships and these young gymnasts have come into the senior

ranks. They are a bit inexperienced. That is a huge floor score for

Kristian Thomas. Two down, one to go, Dan Purvis is the third and

final gymnast for Great Britain on the floor. Every single score

counts. Lovely double-twisting double back. These gymnasts doing

these huge skills with ease. One and a half in two double front. Just a

little scurry on the landing. He needs to settle a tiny bit. There he

does. That was superb, double front, completely blind landing. He

anticipates the floor. Wraps in the twists. Beautiful, classy gymnast,

Dan. Stylish. He needs another well controlled

landing. The roll-out. And he does. That is quite a trademark, rolling

up without having to put the hands down. This is the important tumble,

the important landing. Whip back, double Arabian tuck, he's made it!

Great performance from Great Britain. Just kept his toes in.

Great control. There is a good vibe out there for Great Britain? They

all look really up for it, three out of three good routines, that is all

you can ask for. You are always most nervous on the first apparatus.

Absolute dominance on the floor from Dan Purvis, such control, showing

his world-class performance on the floor. A few little wobbles but the

idea is that these guys can just go around with nothing to major. We

will have a good chance. A first look at the vaulters. Big scores on

the vault. That skews the table slightly with gymnasts that have

been on the vault because they can get such high scores and really it's

all or nothing with that apparatus. If it works for you you get a big

score. But wait until all of the nations have been on the vault until

you get a good idea. Taking on board plenty of water. Dan Purvis, 15.066,

well, what a benchmark for Russia. Great Britain are teamed with

Russia. They will sit out, while Russia go next. It is not the start

that Ukraine wanted. A little bit high, Craig? I think so, yes. I'm

going to look at Dan because he is the pommel horse expert, ex-European

champion. 15 seems high. Apart from the stutter in the handstand it was

a really clean routine, I've seen him scoring 15.6 before. Maybe they

took away at ten for a little error. Actually maybe the combination as

well, it is dubious but he is a real favourite, you know, within the

European circuit. He will be disappointed himself, thinking about

putting in a good performance, heading to Rio, no doubt they will

be watching to say, he is going to the competition. He will be really

disappointed, scoring 15 is a decent score, though. No doubt Max Whitlock

will be watching. Shout out to him. Absolutely. Great Britain are

leading the four teams that have competed so far. There are eight in

all. It is now the turn of Switzerland. They have rotated

around with Ukraine. This is Benjamin Gischard. Qualified with

13.1. Into the single legwork. Good amplitude on the circles, the hip

extension. Quite a fast circle. Works well on one handle. Gaining

difficulty. He settles down. Into the traditional Magyar. Linked into

the travel. Up into the handstand. Clean into the pirouette. They have

taken the opportunity. Ukraine handed it to them. Very much so,

there is nothing like a home crowd to lift you, Switzerland have been

one of the country is really rising, fifth that the World Championships,

automatically through on the first try for an Olympic berth. This is a

very stylish performance. As you can see. Lovely swing. Good control.

They did qualify as a team with the third highest score on the pommel

horse. They are also quite a young team. Big hopes for the future. One

down, two to go, for them. It is so important to be consistent. And the

team tactics play quite apart here. Choosing a consistent team. You

might sometimes forego somebody who's got great flair in order to

have a steady team. Eric often in gymnastic competition you have four

people and only three have accounts you can take a flyer on someone who

is extremely gifted. -- very often. This format means you have to have

consistent performers. This will be the real challenge for

Team GB. Yes, absolutely. We are just waiting for Belyavskiy's score

to comment. The first Russian to comment, scoring 15 point 66. This

is the second Russian gymnast, Nicky Clark Nagornyy, 19 years old. He

qualified second for the four final. -- Nagornyy. He has some moves.

Things are going well so far for Russia. A real fight between Britain

and Russia today. And head-to-head, they really are. A big super tumble,

bounces out of the land was lots of control. -- the landing with lots

of. That was very impressive. 3.5. This is how he builds the

difficulty. Double twisting front immediate, double front. These are

moves of serious difficulty. Piked double Arabian, a sort of side past.

He is very late. Very well rehearsed routine -- side pass. A bit of style

included there. Very precise, every round off the same. Two and a half

into tuck front half. Must not repeat elements. A little stutter at

the finish there, but it doesn't matter because that was an

immaculate triple twist to finish. That is why he is in the Flora

final! A masterclass of Flower work -- floor final. A masterclass of

floor work. Your roses open. To do it as clean as that, that is

world-class. -- your mouth is open. There is his team-mate, Christian

Baumann, 21 years old. 15.033 in qualification, just making it to the

pommel horse final. Straight into the main bulk of the routine, very

difficult to wind between the handles, travelling back to the

horse. Confident in the Magyar, into the... Lots of form. He is having to

fight. Keep going, son. Well saved there. Into the hands Van. Phil

pirouette. This is where it really takes it toll -- into the handstand.

Fought and showed every inch of being a true competitor because if

you actually let yourself fall of you have to start again. This will

have ratcheted up a bit, perhaps not as much as a hallmark, but he had to

fight and mark up the next couple of elements because of it -- a whole

mark. The first in Switzerland have been any medal winning position,

with that pressure. Holding up Russia's score, and goodness me.

Speaking of powerhouses. He was world champion here back in 2014 and

if he can contain the power and keep in this area, you just watch. Well,

look at the height. Lots of gymnasts make rate twists, but this guy

tumble tyres well. Launches into the air, double straight, with twist. A

little hop on the landing. Did he just take out a toe? They have to

meet the floor and punch into a double front. Such exciting work. He

had a massive difficulty score of seven in qualification. That would

mean he was being judged out of 17. That was a step out! You get

deducted for the step and for the fit being out of the floor. Nice

control on that twisting pass. He is so fast, crams everything in. There

is the treble finish! He is quite pleased with that, such bulky

routine, so many places to make mistakes. This is where that kind of

combination of this difficulty in execution comes into play, because

although he is doing very difficult moves comity is giving himself

enough manoeuvring on his execution. Yes, a lot higher than a lot of the

other competitors today, and he make of gone out of the floor then but he

could still get a higher score. 14.14 Christian Baumann. Oliver

Hegi, the last gymnast for Switzerland on the pommel horse.

This is a very important routine for the whole team. -- home team.

Straight into the handstand, not once, but twice. Really nice

extension there on the doubling circle. Lots of clearance. Between

the body and the handle. That is the Wu travel straight into the Russian

handle on the end. Clearly done, legs locked together. The Magyar...

One handle. Handstand pirouette... Much better fairness on the pommel

horse. -- much better finish. Just listen to that crowd! He is through.

Well done. That is a super effort, Chris. Yes, really very impressive,

and you can see the enthusiasm for the sport in Switzerland. Good

style. I like this overhead camera because you can see the legs really

stuck together. The judges will just be looking for a little deductions

if the hands are not exactly evenly placed, if they are not square. But

he made the dismount shark and good. What a finish to their first piece

-- sharp. Relief. On to the rings, for Switzerland. Denis Abliazin

scorers a 15.2, even with those deductions. That has sealed him and

sailed Russia ahead of Great Britain, at the moment. -- sailed.

Now a chance to see Vera Mora on the vault. A lovely high, that was a

textbook two and a half twist from the entry, 15.066. He scores 15

point 26 X. -- 15 .266. They are ranked six at the moment, head of

Ukraine in seven. The Spanish are in eighth place at the moment but I am

sure that we will get confirmation. There is the top format. Russia are

a 0.7 ahead of Great Britain, France and third, and Germany, Italy and

Switzerland there, Ukraine way down the field at present and Spain, they

are in eighth. Henri go, then. -- there we go. Russia and Great

Britain onto their final piece on the pommel is. -- pommel horse. It

has to see some of our favourite momentss from there. -- now a chance

to deceive. Really, a solid start, Dan. Speaking about Great Britain,

working the floor, the pommel rings, that seems to sit us, as a country.

Yes, any false count towards your score and that is something you want

to avoid. The boys were working hard on that in training. Rate, it will

be a big ask to try to beat Russia. They did not have the best team

competition in qualification. They counted quite a few false -- rate,

it will be. It is quite hard. Yes, if it was down to enthusiasm, we

would win. I think we also have to be relieved realistic. At the fact

that, you know, Russia took the win in qualification and then obviously

Russia had quite a view false. We do not have Max Whitlock, but I think

what we have to think about with these European Championships, how do

the guys jell with this format as a team? Let's think about, we have

seven apparatus tomorrow for the guys and it gives the country

something to think about, you know, for the Olympics. Philipp Herder...

I was going to see traditionally this is a very strong piece for the

Germans, but actually that was just a double twisting Yurchenko, and I

think they may still be doing warm up. The board is up, the score, so

the double twist off, you can see he landed to the side of the white

line, a bit of a deduction. If you are outside of both lines, it is a

bigger deduction still. Just the one vault each in this team final. In

the individual apparatus finals you have the chance for two vaults but

this really is all or nothing, over in the blink of an eye. Yes, it is

the test of the true dynamic explosive power. Obviously I am

sitting beside a lot of gymnastic knowledge here today and if you

would like to get in touch to ask anything, if you would like us to

mull anything over, you can get in touch with the details on the screen

there. Or contact the Facebook page. Loads of ways, so no excuse really!

No, and we will answer any questions! Will answer by post.

LAUGHTER We will try! Now, Sebastian Krimmer.

Building power, a good round off, double twist, again off to the side.

Not as explosive as we had been used to seeing from the German team. We

spoke in the past, Chris, about deduction for lack of height for

this one. Yes, well, really as you hit the top you didn't accelerate

very much of the top at all, did you, Craig? No, and it was muster

stroll down to the vault. If they do that really quick and transition of

the top of the horse, and he did look a little bit salted -- it was

almost a stroll. It is not simple, but the double twist, in this level

of competition, we need a 2.5 or triple twist to really push up the

score is now on this piece of apparatus. There was certainly a

time, and you will know, that the German team were hard to beat, Dan?

Yes, medallists as I was growing up, then a few gymnasts finished and it

is the young guys coming through. They are not very experienced but

they will be in a couple of yours time -- couple of yearss' time. Now

it is Nile Wilson, second up. Come on, Nile Wilson Straight into the

handstand, double leg circle. Onto the one handle, onto the end. Trying

to keep the momentum and speed going with the leg circle on the one

handle. Winding down and... He has to keep pushing. There is the

Magyar. He needs to extend the hips. Under the handle, enter the

handstand, pirouette. He is the! -- he is through. We have the European

champion, Louis Smith, still to come, but impressive form, Chris?

Very impressive, and Dan Purvis scored a 14.5, 2.3 partners

qualification, and this from Nile, a classy gymnast, European junior

champion two years ago of course. One more vault to go. The German

team were in force after the last rotation. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine.

They are down in seventh, so have it all to do here on rings. Another

current all-round European champion. Strong on this piece of apparatus.

Circles round into the Maltese. Shoulders level and flat. Into the

crucifix. Good piece of apparatus for Oleg Verniaiev. 15.2 in

qualification. That is the JAMA wacky. Into the crucifix. He has to

control the rings. -- Yamawaki. Into the plunge. Circle into the

handstand. Nice shape. Forward long swing. He has to hold on.

Double-twisting double back. Liberals that on Monday. Yes, but

that was a vital routine. -- a little step on landing. He needs to

do everything he can hear. It is not turning out to be Ukraine's day.

They are one of the few teams that have been to the test event and they

did well and qualified through the test event in Rio, the top eight

teams qualified at the World Championships in November. Then the

next eight had to fight it out for four places and they were one of the

teams that got one of those four places but it means they really had

a very heavy programme in this half of the and they have gone to Rio and

fought at the test event and some teams who have done that have chosen

not to come here, the Dutch team have not come as a team, and they

perhaps look a bit jaded. Yes, it is that point about peaking at the

right time, three months to go until Rio, do you need to peak now so it

is an upward trajectory? They will also have trials in their country

and I have been watching Oleg Verniaiev on social media and he is

competing in Grands Prix. 15.2, that's a great score. He is the true

competitor, really. 14.1 for Nile Wilson. Come on, Louis Smith, he

says. We all echo you, Nile. Louis here, just for the pommel horse.

Current European champion. This will be a masterclass on the pommel

horse. Lovely into the handstand, great control. He joins the legs

together, right down. Picks it up into the double leg circle. Look at

the extension, this is where Lewis has improved with his technique and

his circle. Nice work on one handle, full spindle on the end. Into the

Russian. His feet are glued together. Great alignment on the

Magyar. And the Sivado with the hands. But into the handstand with

no hesitation. Pirouette. Great stuff from Lewis. Great Britain back

in contention. Huge pressure, every time he comes out and he delivers

when he needs to. Yes, he does, that was an awesome routine. Probably

even better than his qualification routine so he will be scoring high

15s at least. What a routine under pressure, that is why he is so

successful. He loves the pressure. He thrives off it. Actually, to be a

true competitor, lots of competitors are introverted but Louis is a

performer, a real extrovert who loves the crowd and he loves to play

to it. And he just makes it look so easy, never any doubt in his mind,

or in the mind of the person watching the routine either.

He has been a great rings work in the past. He is a very good gymnast

on this piece. Look at his strength, cert -- circling into the top

planche. Flat into the Maltese. Kip into the Maltese. Lays out into the

handstand. Into the inverted crucifix. That is a bit high for my

liking. Nice in the swing elements and back into the Maltese. Another

circle to crucifix. Back up into the top planche. Circle

into the handstand, must lock out. He flicks his arms and he is winding

up for the dismount. Double-twisting double back with a slight adjustment

on landing. That is a much better routine for Ukraine. Doing

everything they can to get back into the top three. They were in seventh

after the last piece but a much happier outing on rings than pommel

horse. They have got a couple of quite specialists on this apparatus.

As we were saying earlier, Ukraine have got one or two gymnasts who are

really good on each piece but they don't have six or seven. This sort

of final format as Dan was saying earlier, really suits them. That's a

lovely picture. Fabulous crucifix. Very powerful gymnast. That's the

first three teams. Lewis Smith gets 15.9 66. What a team score for Great

Britain on pommel horse. Beat that if you can, Russia. CHUCKLES

The fans like it as well! That's always good. The pressure is on now,

even though it was a great start, the powerful floor for Russia, that

will make them sweat a bit, I'm sure. Dan, you train a lot with

Louis, to me he looks like his technique has improved on the pommel

horse. He is not as skewed as he used to be and he has better

extension in my mind on the double circle. Is that something he has

been consciously working on? Definitely. The fitter you get the

more you can extend on the pommel horse and obviously he has his eyes

on Rio. He will want to pick but every ten in preparation for the Rio

Met. Is he more settled when choosing how difficult to go? Back

in the day he used to choose until he was on the apparatus and see how

he felt. He still has the bigger routine under his belt. He still

scored 15.9 and that is an unbelievable score. For his easy

routine as well. That is all you can ask for. Well, Great Britain lead

the way at the moment, don't worry too much about this because Russia

have not been on pommel horse yet. It is confusing when they put up the

graphics halfway round the competition. Just four teams have

competed. Russia, as we say, have joined Great Britain on pommel horse

and Switzerland on rings and France on the vault. Spain are on the

parallel bars. He was third on the floor earlier

on. Can Russia compete with Great Britain? Straight into the work, the

handstand. Lovely tempo on the double leg circle. On one handle.

Circle into handstand and back down into single legwork. Back to one

handle. Travel down the horse and into the Magyar. A little bit of a

fight, they are. You've got to keep the momentum going. Up into the

handstand. Pirouette. Very efficient routine, there for Russia. He was

adamant he was getting through that. Very businesslike. He came to grief

in qualification. 12.86 only so he wanted to put that behind him and

that was a very businesslike performance. He powered his way

through. He is a super gymnast at 19 years old. Yes, because the floor

routine was one of the best we have seen for a long time. And full of

great variety. I know we have gymnasts who do fabulous amounts of

twists but he showed true variety on the floor exercise and a great deal

of ability and strength on the pommel horse as well. We've seen him

just in recent years not looking too happy, looking just a bit stuffy and

what have you, but here we are, there seems to be a completely

different atmosphere in the Russian team. Yes, they look like they have

done a lot of training at home and have come out fighting, they feel

it's time to grasp power in Europe again, I think. Oh, he did well to

save that. Double front, very difficult. A big step to the side,

14.2 33. Working every piece today, Julien Gobaux. The Swiss in sixth

place at the moment. After that first piece. There are two teams on

each apparatus, one team works first and then the second team warms up

and has a go. We are now in the second half of the second piece of

apparatus. 14.4 33. This is his compatriot.

He's had a toe injury. It will be interesting to see how he lands

this. Straight into the top planche. A bit high that in the Maltese.

Gymnasts must be dead flat with their shoulders on the rings.

Thereupon, a slight murmur. -- there again. Layout. Now we are into the

swing elements. Nice in the double pike, nice in the double tuck and

straight into the top planche. He must fix the handstand. A few more

little wobbles and they will add up. He will wind up into the dismount.

Double-twisting, double back. A little hop on the landing.

Switzerland going well. Powerful routines from relatively young

gymnasts. That impressed me, they are really very strong. They are

looking good? Yes, they are obviously in front of the home crowd

and I know that you can be really lifted by the home crowd. They are

going for it today. 14.6 there for Nikita Miller corny. -- there, for

Nikita Miller corny -- Nagornyy. Consistency is key. There is

pressure on this routine. He has a very unusual move there. Out on one

hand, taking all of the support. That is the Russian on the one

handle, into the end. Lovely turning travel. Full spindle. Keeps the

momentum going. That builds the difficulty. Travelling again. Look

at the extension over the pommel horse. Magyar, Sivado. Into the

handstand, into the dismount, superb performance. Great to see because he

so often falters when there is pressure. That was very good. There

is a really good team energy about this Russian performance. Yes, and

it's not often you see them like this either. They look as though

they are up for it today, they will take the fight to GB. 0.7 between

them in qualification. Great Britain and Russia. Russia are keen to

really widen the gap today. There will be one more Switzerland gymnast

left. Benjamin Gischard, another young gymnast, in fact, the youngest

of the three, just 20 years old. A very difficult piece of apparatus,

without the majority strength. -- without the mature and strength.

Kip, into the Maltese again. A slight pause. Into the top planche

is the that's better. Circling into the handstand. He's got to watch his

back. That's better. Nice in the double pike, connected to the double

tuck. Back into the top planche. He winds up into the dismount,

double-twisting double back. Large step on landing but a good routine,

the Swiss are really piling on the pressure. I tell you what, he really

had a go there, Benjamin Gischard. Goodlad. I reckon they are a hot tip

for the bronze medal here, Switzerland, especially with the

home crowd advantage behind them. It would be a dream come true for them.

Actually looking at qualification, the rings and pommel horse were

their worst scoring apparatus, so even though they know what they have

on the board, they have good pieces to come. They finished top on

parallel bars, second on the high bar, so they will get big scores.

It issuing 15.43-day -- it is showing 15 -- 15.433. Now it is to

think of. He can work the pommel horse, that is for sure. --

Kuksenkov. Building the difficulty on the one handle. Enter the

handstand, lovely. Back down. Such a difficult move. -- into the

handstand. Nice travel. As well, you do not see that much these days. You

looks really good. Good extension of the Zivado there. Full pirouette.

Russia are on side today. They have certainly answered the challenge.

Great Britain won the pommel horse in qualification and Russia look

like they have no intention of giving in. You can see the relief on

his face as he comes off there are, and nice little smile on his face,

as if to say, lads, we knew we could do it. I almost feel there is a

sense of relief from the Russian team. It is most likely have a real

opportunity, and let's not wasted. Certainly been very businesslike.

14.54 Gischard. Off to their next piece of apparatus, the vaults, I

think. -- 40.5 for. This will be difficult, and it is. Look at that.

15.4, fabulous. The biggest vault scorer we have seen so far. Onto the

third rejection then. When all of those scores are added in and

portal. We can give you confirmation of where things are sitting at the

moment. -- added in and totalled up. We are waiting for that one more

scorer to come and, Kuksenkov. A love that move. It must be quite

tricky, that. Yes, I have tried it, and I can't do it!

LAUGHTER Is just rotation around the

shoulder, keeping balance? Yes, obviously you are on one arm and

that is so hard to do in training, let alone under the pressure of

competition, so I really do respect that move. Well, the third rejection

sees Great Britain on rings. You can see them warming up there. Over

there with Russia, they will have Ukraine and Switzerland, Germany and

France on parallel bars, and Italy and Spain will be over on the high

bar -- the third rotation. Look out for that. There are the standings.

After two pieces of apparatus Russia are well ahead of Great Britain,

France in third and Ukraine have moved up to fourth, and Switzerland

go up one place into fifth. Germany and sixth, Italy seventh and Spain

are still down in eighth. There is Courtney Tulloch, gracing the Great

Britain team due to Max Whitlock's absence. That is just confirmation

of where the teams are going. So Great Britain to rings. Looking

ahead to the Olympics, we have a question coming in. Is the European

teams champions format counting a replica of the Olympics? And, yes,

it is, and that is why it is so nail-biting. Yes, and it is great

practice for the Olympics under this kind of pressure as well. Dan Purvis

starts Great Britain's third piece of apparatus here. Strong start.

Circling round to Maltese, into the crucifix, and again. Great control.

Watch this swinging elements no, double pike, double tuck, up into

the top planche -- elements now. Great control. Super shape in the

handstand, long swing, very solid. Can he hang on? Winds up, double

twisting, double pike. Great job. First man. He is through his round.

He is so dependable, Dan Purvis, and really that has been one of the

characteristics we have always spoken about. He does not seem to

succumb to the pressure, he always used to get up there and do his job,

Chris? Yes, and he will tell you he is quite nervous but he does not

appear it at all. He seems most unflappable, and he rises, actually.

I trained in the same gem as Dan and I actually think he rises in

competition, rather than falling away, which some gymnasts do -- same

gym. Dan, how did you feel competing with them? He was one person you

could rely on. You always knew he would jump up and do a good routine.

You didn't even need to watch it. That your guards on for the next

piece, yes. LAUGHTER

At the end of the vault runway, lots of gymnasts bringing their own talk

with them from their own gyms. The chances are he will grab those legs

and pull them round, very talked it! Ukraine often give us some fantastic

vaults, very exciting vaults. You will see the tariff on the side, if

the camera pans round. He is following a 13.966, from his

team-mate. Six, real power, drives high off the top. Double time, kick

out at the top. That is the way you do it. Meet that floor. That was

beautiful, wasn't it? That was one of the most graceful and have ever

seen. This gymnast does everything beautifully. He is a great

technician. Meet the floor. Look how he uses the spring out of the

platform. The platform is sprung. If you had it correctly, and you can

really see how it projected him up into the air, making full use of the

airtime. 14.63, a great score their four Dan Purvis, the first gymnast

up. Great Britain will be halfway round after this piece of apparatus

-- there for Dan Purvis. They are still hanging on to the coat-tails

of Russia. As we have said, it is or nothing. Russia are looking

powerful, looking strong. -- all or nothing. They are looking steady

today. The perfect recipe. 15.44 Oleg Verniaiev. Out of 16. Where did

they take off as you point sex, that's what I want to know! -- take

off via 0.6. He can do that better than me. He did not make the vault

final. But hoping to put everything right here. Igor Radivilov. Another

super difficult vault coming up. Double front with have turnout.

Kicked it out so other top. One of the deductions for vault landings is

if you land with the chest out and there was no suspicion of that, he

was bowled operate. Fabulous. It will be interesting to see how this

school compares to the 15.4 from Oleg Verniaiev. 15.3, directing! Not

quite as good, obviously, with the landing, but his shoulders were down

a little bit -- 15.3, I reckon. If you have two bolts like that in your

armoury you will score big on that apparatus. -- two vaults. Can you

put into context how difficult that is, Dan? Marked out of the sex, it

is one of the hardest. There are only a few people who do it in the

world -- out of the six. It is a really hard move. If you can do when

you will score big. Queue is Courtney Tulloch for Great Britain,

the most junior champion on rings. He has made the rings final as well.

Wilson scored 15 one, just before Courtney, and look at the power as

he presses into that move. A demonstration of shear strength.

Look at that. That is the Tulloch. That is his own move. Not many

gymnasts have a move named after them. Very flat there in the

Maltese, but gymnasts must combine the strengths and the swinging

elements. Back up rise into the top planche. Different class. Flat in

the crucifix. Slight lift of the head to save, this is easy. -- to

say. Waiting for the right swing. Layout, double piked, straight into

the Maltese, without a whisker of movement. Locked out Sol and it --

solid in the handstand. Must hold onto the dismayed. Full twisting,

double straight! Tulloch proving how much he deserves his place here on

the British team! -- hold on to the dismount. That was absolutely

fabulous, by a long way one of the best rings routines I have seen from

a British guy for a long time. He really brought a bit of virtuosity

to that, didn't he? Dan, thoughts on that? Really really good. That is

going to be a big score. All of his possessions WordPerfect and held for

the right amount of time and he stuck the dismount, one of the most

difficult things to do with the rings as well, and the most

important. -- possessions were perfect. Current Olympic silver

medallist, the European champion back in 2011 and 12. Let's see how

he works these bars. A great line. Uprising into the double pike, very

difficult skill. Somersault, lovely straight arms. 21 bar, had to fight

a little bit there. -- to one buyer. He had to rectify that, saved well

into the long swing double pike. Huge difficulty. Settling now into

the turn. Full twisting double pike, super difficult dismount. Not quite

as crisp as we have seen him sometimes, but I love that this

mode, he just whips the twist and so fast. -- love that dismount. Just a

bit of this fight on his hands, with the bent arms. Such a light framed

gymnast. He claims his work so well, very difficult to work on the one

handle. -- he times his work so well. 15.766, a huge score for

Courtney Tulloch. Well, things are going very well indeed for Great

Britain. That 15.766 is the highest score of the competition posted on

rings, but that was exceptional. Without a doubt the best routine he

has done under that pressure. Just what Team GB needed. Well done young

Courtney. Russia will be watching very closely. They have got a bit of

leeway, after a very powerful for performance. A good steady pommel

horse. -- floor performance. And rings is a key piece for them.

Vault. Rings for Russia, they qualified in top position. They were

the first on rings, first and vault, so they have got a good couple of

strong pieces. But I think there is a real competition hotting up for

the bronze, with Switzerland. 15.1, Germany with a good shout there as

far as parallel bars are concerned. He did well to keep his composure

really and carry on through the routine, Nguyen. Great Britain are

ahead of Ukraine, Germany and then Italy. Just a reminder, this is just

half of the teams that have completed their third piece of that

threat is, the third of six. -- third piece of apparatus. The vault,

teamed with Ukraine. The gymnast just talking his feet. -- chalking.

So Pablo Braegger wants to keep the consistency for Switzerland. It will

be over very quickly. Hope it goes your way.

Really harnessing the power. Big push. That will not be what they

wanted to start with, added off-line, that's an automatic one

marked reduction. -- at it off-line. And then all of the other deductions

that come from lack of height and direction. That will be costly for

Switzerland. He could have done with a bit more height, opened out to the

floor a bit too soon. Off the top, slightly to one side and then it

went over across the line as well, so the deduction for being out of

the landing zone as well. Not a good day at the office for the first

vaulter. This format is that you have five in the team and you work

three on each piece so some of the gymnasts on the third coming in

cold, so that in itself is quite a skilled, to do a piece and not the

next and whatever, for some of the younger gymnasts it takes a bit of

getting used to. A question from Chloe on social media, what is a

realistic medal tally for Rio for the team? Bearing in mind the

gymnasts will be watching this afterwards! Pablo Braegger scores

13.3. I will throw my hat in and say we will get a team medal in the

men's. Did she want to know the colour? I think the tally means how

many can we get? Individual? We will have an Olympic champion. Dan is

nodding. The gymnasts could come through with quite a few. Do get in

contact. If you do have any questions. This is a big vault.

Double Tsukahara. He controls it well, the big step back will deduct

marks, but when you have seen your team-mate not performing well and

you have a risky vault, it is always tough, but he performed well. With

so much fire in your belly it is difficult to master because you

either overcooked it or under rotate. It is so difficult to deal

with. I also think that, he watches his team-mate under rotate, and he

thinks, I need to G myself up, and he did well to save that. Anybody

else might have rolled over. He did really well to save that.

Nikita Ignatyev. A very strong gymnast. He was in the world final

couple of years ago. He entered qualifying with the highest score

for Russia on rings. Looking to extend their lead here. Great start,

circle to Maltese and then back to the Maltese. Into the crucifix.

Gymnasts are only allowed to link three strength elements at any one

time. Beautiful line into the swinging elements, double pike,

double tuck, flat. That is great work. A slight pause. Back into the

top planche. You can see the strain on his face, he is working so hard.

Can he wind-up? Lovely full twisting double layout. A little shuffle on

the dismount. Great start. Beautiful form throughout, I thought. That

routine follows a 15.25 from Nikita Nagornyy.

I suppose they are a bit down from where they would want on the vault.

A chance to see the high bar. Spanish gymnast. Adria Vera Mora. I

think that's how you pronounce it. If his mum is watching. Spain is one

of the countries who suffered over the past 4-8 years. Men's gymnastics

was a discipline where they were a big force in the past. Always very

good on the high bar. That was beautiful, had to bend his arms a

bit. Same thing on the fold West, very secure, even better. Here we go

again, just tucked. You can see when he changes shape that he's going to

perform another one of the difficult skills. This time the Tkachev. Full

of difficulty and excitement. As to pirouette as well. There you go. The

full turn. Close bar elements. Where the body comes enclosed to the bar.

These are long swinging elements. All he needs now is a good secure

landing. Full twisting double straight, he gets it. That was

superb. It's interesting to watch that, not only the crowd getting

into it but the gymnasts as well, everybody was watching it. Very

spectacular piece of apparatus, the high bar. It's nice to see the

Tkachev. Otherwise the routine can be slightly one-sided, using the

Kovac. When you compare that to Courtney Tulloch's, though, I tell

you, Great Britain are closing the gap. However comes the current

European champion. CHUCKLES Denis Abliazin. As strong as you

like. Third qualifier in the rings final. Flat in the Maltese. That is

so difficult. Back planche and then pressed back into the Maltese.

Shoulders level with the rings. It's so difficult to deduct. Layout.

Double tuck, double pike, a bit ragged there. And dropping the feat

in the top planche. That will be deducted. Circle to crucifix,

better. Kip to crucifix again. Week in the swinging elements, for me.

And will be deducted. Strong in the handstand. He's got to nail the

dismount. Lock those arms. Kicks in, double-twisting, double straight.

The key with rings is the transitions. He looked clunky. It

looked a bit... This is where ring work has changed in recent years,

it's not just about being good at swinging or strength, you have to

combine the two, and you can't doubt how strong he is there, but the

swinging elements were poor and that's what the judges will

absolutely hammer. Jerky in the somersaults. However that dismount

is massive, double straight with double twist. Just chalking up the

bars ready to go, Cyril Tommasone. He has had shoulder problems this

year. He may struggle with this. A bit short on the somersault but a

lot cleaner there. There is the drop chute. Lovely somersault from the

upper arm, into the Healey turn. Reverse pirouette.

Stutz, Stutz 21 bar. -- to one bar. Double pike. Slight adjustment on

landing. That was a solid routine. He has such a light frame but long

labours as well which works so well in the parallel bars. I know it is

one of your favourite pieces and one of mine as well. Yes, with the long

levers it makes you look a lot nicer when you're swinging. Obviously when

watching the routine you can see that his line is so nice and it can

sometimes make the judges give you a nicer score when it looks so nice.

The key to building a good score on parallel bars for you? A good mix of

everything, above the bar and below. Joining them both together and

obviously being clean and tidy with no hand movement. 15.2 for Dennis Ed

Leigh is an -- Denis Abliazin. Certainly ahead of Great Britain.

Great Britain closing the gap slightly. Ukraine will move up into

third. France around fourth but we will get confirmation very soon. I

tell you what, that performance from Courtney Tulloch bodes well for the

rings final. Absolutely. And his bid for a place in Rio may be preserved.

There's a lot of ground to talk about that as well because the

juniors, there was a super performance and we will bring you up

on the juniors later in the programme. Certainly stay tuned for

that. Benjamin Gischard scored 15.2. That was a beautiful vault, really

good. He didn't half need that after the previous two gymnasts. Really

excellent. These are some highlights of what is now halfway round the

competition. And after this I think it will be a good time to have a

chat with Beth Tweddle and get her thoughts really on the first half

will stop you in the studio and can you hear us? Yes, I can hear you

well. We were just talking about Courtney Tulloch and watching some

pictures here. How impressive was that and how important was it for

Courtney? It's really important for Courtney and the team, one thing I

have noticed through the team final is how Russia and Great Britain have

both upped their game, look at every team score in qualification, they

have all improved. Both teams are up to the fight and there is only one

marking it and anything can happen with three pieces left to go. Yes,

and I was thinking back to your captain 's role, if you were there

now, what would you be saying halfway round? Don't look at the

scores because anything can happen, keep your team calm, they know what

they've got to do, having Christian that as the captain is great because

he has the experience of an Olympic Games and Louis has now finished so

he can step back and help the team to keep calm. OK. Just looking at

confirmation that Russia are ahead of Great Britain with Ukraine in

third, France in fourth, Germany theft, Switzerland six, Italy

seventh and Spain are still in eighth. -- Germany fifth. This is

now the fourth rotation. Italy and Spain will be on the floor and then

Great Britain and Russia on the vault. Ukraine and Switzerland will

be on the parallel bars and Germany, France on the high bar. Dan, what

would you say about Great Britain on the vault? How would you sum it up?

Is this an area where we can improve? Obviously we have Christian

who has a big vault and he will always score big. But with Purvis

and Nile, we have almost two safe 2.5s. You know you can guarantee a

good score. Here is Nile Wilson with his fourth piece, he is working

every piece today for Great Britain. A busy day today. And very, very big

and controlled vault. Look at the distance from the platform. Two and

a half twists in the straight position. Quite a blind landing, it

is pretty difficult and he makes it very easy. He is bearing efficient

at it, as Dan was saying. Minimal deductions, legs locked together,

just a step on minding down the middle. Yes, that was a great team

vault. -- on landing. It proves that he can transfer from the top of the

vault, there you can see that he gets plenty of height and distance.

I really like Nile, I think he's a very good gymnast. I think he's

thinking, well, we don't have max today, I'm going to take on the

role, and he is really maturing into a great gymnast. Look at the score.

You used the word mature, because he hasn't long been out of the junior

ranks. These are early days in his senior career and putting in a

performance like that, you know, bidding for Rio. This is a very good

show for him. Dan Purvis. His turn on the vault. They are depending on

him again today. Lovely blog. Super two and a half. He shows us how it's

done. -- lovely block. He absolutely blocks off the top of the platform.

One of the best year Shingo -- year performances. He really battles to

hold onto that. Look at the form in his legs through the air. He

absolutely wraps into the twists. You see a lot of gymnasts in the

twist starting to slow down or bend their legs but not with Dan. That is

Dan the man! We certainly needed that because we have 25.6s where

Russia will come out with difficult points, so if you've not got the

difficulty, then you have to perform just like that.

Well, two sighs of relief, and here comes the third... It will be a

bigger sigh of relief, because this is a much riskier vault. As Dan was

saying, the other two are sort of Mr dependable, but this is either

great, are on the edge of your seat. 14.866, so here comes the risk

factor. Come on, Kristian. Everybody watching at home is right with you

here. Every ounce of power will go to this. Just go for the block, the

moment the hands hit the table and launch him up into the sky. Saw

important to get the exact speed of the run correct. Approach it,

easily, lifted high, fantastic! Get! That was the risk, he took it, and

it paid off -- so important. That was absolutely massive. He just

seemed to hang in the air, he could spot that landing, Dan, then came

down. Yes, as soon as I saw it I knew that. A lot of time to spot

that landing. A brilliant vault. One of the best I have seen. Yes, it

reminds me of backing the Olympics. Now on the parallel bars, the

European champion, Oleg Verniaiev, he has been for two years now. Just

enjoy this. The only gymnast to post above 16 in qualification. This is a

real masterclass of parallel bar work. Beautiful shape and line in

the handstand. Under somersault, locked out with straight arms. Hi

there. -- high. Highest difficulty work. That was the Bhavsar. Double

front have, nails the landing. What a routine. -- front half. Ukraine

are definitely on their way back now, putting that shaky pommel horse

behind them, and that is what you need, European champion like that to

go on and just calm you down with two pieces to go. Is a really classy

gymnast. He works most of the Grand Prixs, we see lots of them in

competition, and he is just so efficient. I think he is of those

gymnasts is definitely not working at his maximum. These are routines

he can do quite easily. The fact you are seeing how consistent these

routines are shows how comfortable he is with them, but they are still

getting big scores and winning medals so why is there a need to go

higher? Yes, but by not working at his maximum and putting the most

difficult things in he can be able to consistently perform rather than

be on the edge of the time, yes. But it is that kind of relationship,

isn't it, between difficulty and execution? 15.4 for Kristian Thomas.

Superb vault, superb team effort so far. Just when you think you need a

bit of help, it goes Kristian and bangs in a vault like that, 15.4,

just what the guys needed. They are piling on the pressure for Russia

now. Absolutely. Now the third of the German gymnasts to go up onto

high bar, Marcel envoy in. European medallist in the past. -- Marcel

Nguyen. One of the very famous German gymnasts. He was actually

second at the last Olympics I was going to say, all-around. But he

didn't get his second hand anywhere near the Bado did he. Wrapped in and

his second-hand was dangling underneath. It was high, but he just

did not have that precise and placement. A very risky move. Now,

not only has he lost a fall. But he will not get credited with that

element. You need both hands on, you need to have at least what the

judges call a momentary hang, so he has lost the value. Will he try it

again? Straight this time, but a bit similar with the re-grasp. And

without the twist, very nicely performed. A bit late on the

pirouette. But he swings with such ease and style, one arm very

comfortable work. A little bit of loss of leg form on occasion, but he

winds up, up, in two, over the bar, the Kovacs again, I thought he was

wading into the dismount-mac. There is the dismount-mac! Really

disappointed with himself there. -- there is the dismount. It is the ten

most difficult moves that are counted, isn't it? So it is not as

if they can keep going for ever. The first score we have seen over 16, 16

.1, and he just looks up and thinks, yeah, of course it is!

LAUGHTER I'm not surprised. Why are you? --

16.1. For Italy now, bronze at the European Championships three years

ago. First tumble out of the floor area, and that is the difference

between the best couple of teams and the other teams. They all do similar

work, but it is the control at the end of the landings, the end of the

tumble runs, bending his legs a little as he rebounded there. A

stylish gymnast. The Italian team very much rebuilding. My goodness,

that completely landed out. That is twice he has not managed to stay in

the square. Nice full twisting double back. Bit of a hop back. If

you step out of the floor area, it is 0.3, well, step out is as you .1,

but if you jump out and landed it is your point three. -- it is easy to

.1 if you step out. He will be racking up the deductions.

Controlling the power now. Very popular, triple twist to finish

with. Does so nicely. No major falls, but plenty of deductions.

There we go. You see the double twist, into the floor, and very

athletic and powerful young man, but they're in the year is to be able to

control that power. Difficult tumble in here and you can see he loses leg

tension little, crossing of the legs on the triple twist. The judges will

pick that up. Lots of little hops and bouncers throughout the routine.

Something to go and work on. Nguyen, 12.93, after that fall on the high

bar. -- 12.933. If you're wondering about the size of the floor area it

is 12 metres by 12 metres. Extra strong. Or not, in his case! Extra

sprung, because it is on the podium, so the podium is wood and has a

little bit of a spring on its own, but interestingly this is an ace

rink, so the podium is up and over quite a solid hard circus -- ice

rink. It sounds obvious but the junior men had to cancel their

podium training halfway through because it was so cold! The heating

was not working properly and, so, really, our junior boys did so well

without a full podium. All across Europe and certainly in Britain, as

was it the championships, the amount of people who want to watch this

sport now, they have to go to these bigger places or ice rink and so one

that can actually get the people in. Back in our day, Craig, it was just

mum and dad upon the balcony the photo. Yes, how times have changed,

luckily! -- up on the balcony taking the photo. Certainly Russia will

have something to say about that. But this, goodness me, I wonder what

they are saying to themselves, Dan, Russia? They know it is hit or miss?

The pressure will really be on and Russia have three big vaulters, so

it is released it or miss. Up first, there are big vaulters, the current

European vault champion, Nikita Nagornyy. He has looked very

impressive so far and another vault just flew out the rafters, didn't

it? Well, that was what we were speaking about before, the half-time

that Verniaiev scored 15.4 with, but that was just beautiful. The hate of

the floor, similar to Verniaiev's, so I think it will be around the

same score at, beautiful. Look at the time he has got. Think more

likely is an extra twist out of it. The one and a half out of the double

front, that would be more what I would expect to see. You can see the

landing, you can see how he could get ready for the landing a lot

easier than just doing the double front. Really impressive young man.

15.3! Darren, actually, on Verniaiev's. Next up, he has been

great in competition, a very important vault for Russia, there

is. Yes, it was on its -- he was on his face in qualifications, so he

will not want to go there again. He is really pushing hard, and he has

made it. He definitely did not want to go there again. We have seen him

false or many times, brilliant to see him land. You would think,

wouldn't you, looking at that, he seemed to have an enormous amount of

time and space to land it. You would wonder how he could not land that

every time. It all depends on the run-up on the block there. If you

can get your hips in the right place, you can go a split-second too

early or too late and you can be on your face rolling backwards and that

is why it is such a difficult vault at the sixth value, but that was a

super vault, and he will want to prove to himself and the coaches

that he can actually do the vault, and what a time to pull it out, in

the team final. 15.233, one gymnast to go, and two pieces of apparatus.

Over to the high bar. Zachari Hrimeche, from France. Had his

senior debut last year. Smooth swing, quite a quiet start. He is in

the reverse grip. Gymnasts have to show more than one Brit. This is an

over grip, so he has done that already. Changes his swing, ready

for the full turning, and Kovacs, but nowhere near. He kicked over the

bar rather than up into the air and that is again somewhere we will see

he will not get any value for the move because he completely missed.

Floundering in the error there. Just a word, Dan, and how you actually

train these? -- chalk. You will begin to build up confidence then

move onto the hard floor and it just about seeing the bat-mac. -- the

bar. You can see the change the shape of verse when depending on

what they are going to do. They are just ordinary, swinging their

straight body, then they change the shape when they are going to make a

release. That was a nice pirouette. The different shape of swing will

change what you can do at the end of it, the timing. And now you can see

he is in a dislocated grip. Working against the shoulder line, and now

he is changing shape, ready to kick it into the desperate, double

straight with full twist. Some very nice work, -- kick into the

dismount. Doing what he can to build the difficulty and make those marks

back, so plenty of changes in grip. Shapes, and the swing, as we can

see. You have to be quite precise, don't you, Dan? To get your thumbs

right are like that? Krhin Matt Jess, you have to catch it perfectly

to make sure your thumbs are underneath the mark -- yes, you do

have to catch it. This is the second of the Swiss to go on parallel bars,

Yusof. A good clean start, showing great control. Nice in the front

somersault, straight to Pirouette. Long swing. Clean into

the handstand. Turns, working well. Squeezes the feed together. Oh, he

had to hold it there. He nails the dismount. Only one little error in

the routine. I tell you what, that was a great rescue. He could have

gone for a wander there. Yes, it's so easy to mess up your hand

placement. I don't know how he manages to save that but he kept

still to reduce the deductions. Good work on the one rail. You can see

the flight there, again, he's looking at the rail. He is still

moving up and he's able to lock out with straight arms. Very difficult.

That is because of the fall on high bar.

Zapata from Spain. And very, very explosive gymnast. He got a bronze

at the world year. A bit of a step there but that was the one and a

half, double front. Just a little hop. Oh, no, that was never on, the

two and a half, he did not contact the floor properly and he did well

not to sit right down. I think he brushed the floor. Double straight

with full twist. Not quite as sharp as we saw him at the World

Championships. This is super difficulty. Just a little step

through the landing. Many of these gymnasts will be

fighting for team places for the Olympics.

That was a secure landing. Hours away, double straight, nice finish.

Just the little step as though he did not quite have the confidence to

keep his feet still. It's an interesting point. Zapata got a

bronze at the last world's. How much can sharpness fluctuate on a piece

of apparatus like floor and how do you get it back? Obviously at the

point in the year where you are trying to peak for the biggest

competition. It can be the biggest between Tensai Lee Janzen -- one or

two tenths on each landing. Tips to get the sharpness back? What do you

do? It is just the amount of training that you do in the gym,

putting in the numbers. Christian Baumann. The last gymnast for

Switzerland, this is an important piece, they want to try to make it

onto the medals table. 15.666 in qualification, fourth, we know he

has the skills. Nice in the Stutz, combined into the Healy turn.

Pirouette, very efficient. Back into the handstand. Here wet. Again, that

was nice shape in the handstand. Stutz Just can't afford a flicker.

Double pike. Slight adjustment on landing. Switzerland stay in

contention. They are certainly on their way back. That man got a

silver medal at the last Europeans, he did his country proud. He will go

on to the high bar now. This is their big piece. Parallel bars. Very

successful, the Swiss team, here. Confirmation of the order, Russia

are still ahead of Great Britain. Just a little sit down. Yes, we had

a replay of that, it was a hallmark. This is the final Swiss gymnast. --

a for Mark. -- full mark. Keep your eyes on this. Full twist. Not only

is that two and a half somersault but with a full twist as well.

15.666, goodness me, that seemed to defy gravity in every single plane.

One minute he was twisting and then somersaulting and turning. Goodness

me. I'm surprised he was able to squeeze that in. That's the best

I've seen that, normally he goes to one side but it was bang in the

middle. Obviously something he has been working on, thinking, you know,

I've got a real challenge -- real chance. With vault like that there

is every possibility he could be the Olympic champion. This is the thing,

let's hope they don't overcook it as far as is concerned. They have to

maintain that level for quite a while. -- as far as Rio is

concerned. Russia are similar to Great Britain in that the gymnasts

are fighting for their places. Five British guys out there and another

three or four at home who are also looking to push them out.

Realistically they could. I guess it's probably quite the same story

in Russia. Here we go, confirmation after four pieces that Russia are

ahead of Great Britain by 2.35 marks. Switzerland are now in third.

They have knocked the Ukraine down to fourth. Well, what a strong

parallel bars performance from Switzerland and they will be able to

keep the swing going into the high bar. Looking at qualification, this

team was second in the high bar so they will have a real chance but

it's not just a guaranteed, we're going to nail this. It will be

interesting. Switzerland will be very excited at the fact they are in

this position and hopefully they can hang on. That would be really nice

for them. It's worth knowing that five marks is quite a nice cushion

between second and third that Great Britain have. Russia and Great

Britain are well ahead of the rest of Europe. What a fantastic thing.

I've been around in gymnastics long enough to remember the days where we

just looked in or at Russia and never for one minute thought we

would be able to consider meeting them. What a great situation we are

in now. I'm of a generation when I was in the team and we wouldn't even

make the team final. We were in war of the rest of Europe. The last ten

years has been absolutely extraordinary. -- we were in awe.

Let's get him onto the high bar so he can carry on. Ukraine are forth

at the moment. Oh dear. That did not do their chances any good. First of

all he took three swings before he got going and then a relatively

quiet move, doing the hop over the bar, trying to catch it with a mixed

grip and he does not make the turn. When they catch in mixed grip it is

so they make another turn and he just did not really commit himself

to the turn. You can see the bar twanging away. Loss of the value of

the element plus a fault and they still have to use this score,

whatever. Do it again, this time without the mixed grip.

Stolder and the half turn. They should turn as close to the vertical

as possible. Looks much more suited to the rings than high bar at this

stage of events. We've seen him do a great rings routine, and that's an

excellent dismount, but the work on the high bar was not very

comfortable at all. They were desperately trying to put pressure

back on Switzerland. 0.6 between them and the Ukraine in four.

Goodness me, what a disaster for them. 13.666 in qualification and

depending on where the angle was for the camera, some of the turns looked

quite late for me as well. It was quite a sloppy routine in parts.

Obviously losing the mark for the mistake and the difficulty, the

value of the skill as well, it was really costly and you can tell that

he's not happy at all. Courtney Tulloch but in an absolute storming

performance for Great Britain on rings. Here is his opportunity to

show us what he can do on the parallel bars. Front somersault.

Firmly into the handstand. Under somersault. A bit short but he

blocks it out. Low swing, double pike. Difficult work. Pirouette.

Front up rise, double back. Ads are there to protect the arms. Double

front. -- the pads. Working very well so far. The gymnasts must

perform moves above and below the bars. That was nice. Executing the

routine well so far. Healey turn. Slight adjustment. Into the double

pike. Safely landed. That was good work. Job done for Courtney Tulloch.

He came here to do two pieces of apparatus and goodness me has he

done the team job today. He certainly has indeed, I would not

say he was cautious but you could see that he did not want to give

away anything there. He is really competitor, isn't he? I think he's

grown a lot in this Championships. I think people will go away from this

thinking, there's more to come from Courtney. 11.8, that has to hurt in

more ways than one. Goodness me, what a shame for Ukraine. It's going

to be a real battle between fourth and third. It could well be on

because goodness me, 0.5 is nothing in the world of high bar. We have

seen that. We have seen a few coming to grief today.

Ukraine are usually considered to be a team who work well on the high

bar. That was lovely, smooth, straight Tkachev. And a very nice

turn at the top, big straddle Tkachev. There he had to end his

elbows over on the forward swing out of it. Nice full pirouette. That was

good into the hop. Very late turn, though. And another late turn. Those

are areas where the judges can deduct very easily. And they will.

Eibar scores are generally quite difficult to get. -- high bar. A lot

of deductions. A nice dismount. Just a step on minding. A big improvement

on the first gymnast from the Ukraine, he stayed on the apparatus.

That's the key! You got on, went round and got off in one piece. If

you look at the differences in expression on the faces of the

Ukrainian and Russian team, that says it all, he looked deflated on

the high bar. He did a decent job. He would be heavily deducted on the

bent arms after the catch and being late on the turns. It is not their

strongest piece but this is where every 10th really matters. Yes. As

far as talking about those turns, you have to get between five to and

five passed. A little bit low for Courtney Tulloch? I think that was

slightly harsh but he must have been deducted heavily for a heavy

landing. This is the turn of the Commonwealth champion Dan Purvis.

This is a good piece of apparatus for Dan. 15.066 in qualification. He

had to fight on the somersault to one bar. Just calming it down. Into

the Healey. Long swing. Confident in the Stutz. High into

the double pike. Better from Purves. That was impressive, using all of

his competition experience. You could sense that he was rushing in

the first half and he just brought, I'll take it steady and then we'll

get through and that's exactly what he did. Two down and want to go and

one more piece of apparatus, high bar.

For years now I have watched him and that, stock to one rail, for a

gymnast, such a difficult skill to do. He has obviously changed his

routine edit in the years to find something he is comfortable with --

stuck to one rail. Is certainly comfortable with landings, to his

benefit. Super dismount. Good job done. 13.5 four Semiankiv. -- for.

Switzerland will be watching this very closely. The next gymnast, the

last gymnast, to go on the high bar. He has been so impressive, on vault,

parallel bars, and no on high buyers. that is how it is done, a

little off line. kept his elbows straight. that is very nice, the

turn of the top. you see, hot on bull-mac straight arms, nor

interruption of swing. -- caught on full straight arms. very difficult

to do this and keep the swing going. pushing the shoulders forward quite

a bit there. there is his in-bar work. the turn. lots of confidence

and composure. here is the big kick, the two twists and the double

straight. and the trademark dismount we have seen, he is very slick,

isn't he, with his work with so efficient. Very confident. And is

going to throw this in there, but I am not a fan of this routine. I tell

you why. I think it is quite safe. It over

users the Markelov quite a lot, and if you watch, if you convert our

guys, they do that a lot better than that. But you have to use the court

to your advantage and body type. Hang on. We will carry on with that

in a minute. 14.7 four Daniel Purvis. We have at the Commonwealth

champion. Now Nile Wilson, who came second at those Commonwealth Games,

behind Dan Purvis. 20 years old. Something special. Straight to

handstand. That at the line in his back. -- look at the line. Have

torn. That is very good control. -- half turn. High into the double back

with kick out, that is how you do a double back. Pirouette. Look at

that. Pirouette. Fluent into the

handstand. Can he hold it on the dismount?

Healy turn, come on, Nile. That was made to impressive. Dan, you know

what it is like to work them at the championship? Yes, you look so calm

and composed, and it is not an easy routine. To go onto one bar and hold

it as still as he did under that the mode of pressure is unbelievable. He

has such a good head on his shoulders. Yes, just waiting for the

right moment and going when he knew it was right. That takes a lot of

confidence. It does, and it is something he has obviously work hard

on in training which make him feel confident about it. Full of

confidence, drive and determination, Nile, wears his heart on his sleeve.

Very untypical of us Brits, to be honest, but great to see. Sinai and

somebody actually who loves to compete. He is absolutely loving

every minute of that performance -- yes, and somebody actually lost to

compete. It has to be a big score. It is 15.966, well done, Nile

Wilson! One more piece to go for Great Britain. Things are looking

very good. That one step on landing denied and that 16. So impressive,

wasn't it? Such a difficult landing off any piece of apparatus, and

actually, if he could half out, it gets similar advantage... Look at

that. Great Britain are ten marks ahead of Ukraine. That is what one

fall from the high bar does for you. 14.766, four Oleg Verniaiev. You

were saying about the high bar routine, and I agree. It is not his

best routine, but the secret of becoming an all-round good performer

is to make your strong pieces really good and your weaker piece is good

enough. It is not his best piece but he has made a good enough. For our

viewers at home, there are kind of graded levels, and I think G is the

hardest. Yes, but I think now there is an H. A double twist with the

double straight with a triple twist on the floor. Dreamer but that is

the only H in the Code of Points. So for most of us, it is a G. -- yes,

but that is the only H. Do not want to see it as a bad routine, but for

me... You have said it now! For me hard work is being able to use a

variety of skills and releases. It is smart, the way he has come up

with the routine that he has. I have a feeling we are watching the first

Swiss competitor here. On the final piece of apparatus. Yes, we did not

get the intro for him but he is doing far more than you would ever

do in your warm up. And he fell on the dismount, if it is. And they

look like it was. We did not get the introduction, but here it is, Oliver

Hegi, and the work on a high bar was great, but the dismount just flew

away from him. This is their fifth, then. Yes. What a shame. First up in

the second half is what is happening now so the Russians will be up on

parallel bars to follow Great Britain then the Swiss are following

Ukraine on high bar. Yes, Pablo Braegger will be the next to go for

them and then this will be the penultimate piece of apparatus.

Nikolai Kuksenkov, the first of the Russian gymnasts. Sloppy there in

the front somersault, bit of fall backdown on apparatus, and that will

be heavily deducted. Krhin in the Healy turn. Somersault, long swing.

-- clean in this Healy turn. A little flicker, in the switch to one

buyer. Loss of tension the legs. Better. High in the front uprise,

and can he spot the landing? Yes, he can. Double front, left time. A

costly routine I think that was for Russia. There are looking under

pressure, and rightly so. Two marks between then and Great Britain. It

was not a major mistake, but it was all this routine, here and there,

when you see the legs straddled, a bit bent, the very first bet he lost

marks and rhythm with. 13.5. They have seen Ukraine go and know there

has been a fall there. Coming into this rotation. A tiny bit of

breathing space. They just have to keep going. Pablo Braegger now. To

get into the high bar -- he did get into the high bar final last year's

European Championship in it and he has qualified for this year's. So we

should see an exciting routine here. Here it comes. Finance Bill twist,

very nicely negotiated. -- full twist. The mixed grip, swings

smoothly up. Beautifully linked, the two difficult elements. Clean

pirouettes, but a little bit late on that one. But he linked it into the

Markelov. Lots of energy. By this dismount, lifted up, and makes the

landing. Much, much better. What a performance there! Two gymnasts on

high bar, one more to go. They are sitting pretty for that bronze medal

at the moment, and the pressure is on. It is building. However, it has

been relieved slightly by the home crowd. You can almost sense they are

lifting their gymnasts up into the air to give them that extra bit of

time to reach out and grab the bar. Kovacs, executed really well. Full

extension. That is what the judges like to see, launching those arms

out, straight arm into the long swing, a real variety. There is one

of the locals, getting the cowbells going, we'll have some of that!

LAUGHTER The thing is when there is an

atmosphere like that it can lift you even if they are not cheering for

you, can't it? If you are doing well and you just hear the crowd go.

14.266, Kuksenkov. Down from where he would want to be, and no doubt

with that two and a bit but we have between Russia and Great Britain.

Here is the Olympic champion on the parallel bars. Usual front

somersault, into the handstand. Beautiful and somersault. One-to-one

-- on to one buyer. Little fluctuation of the arms, get the

momentum -- H. Into the Healy turn. Off one and a quarter. He had to use

a bit of strength there and bring it back into the bars. Double front

have line. Very good rescue. -- land. Although impressive stuff,

this is their shakiest piece, I would say, wouldn't you? Room for

improvement between now and Rio? For the Russians, on the parallel bars,

Dan? Yes, there probably is. If you look at their qualification, their

bars was amazing, amazing for any team. It shows the pressure is

getting to them slightly. As a 19-year-old just up from the junior

ranks, he looks very strong. Very strong, mentally as well physically.

Yes, I mean every time I see him he has improved and he has impressed me

every time I have seen as well. 14.633, good job done for Paolo Bray

go on high bar. -- Pablo Braegger. Switzerland are wondering, can

thereby do this? It is floor after this, one more piece of apparatus,

but this is vital from Christian Baumann. Is the big star, clearly

through that release -- he the big star. That little floor, he cover

that it well. That was very nice, one and a half turn. Times in the

handstand. -- towns in the handstand. Full of pirouettes this

routine and a lot of pirouettes can attract a lot of deductions, but

there is this day and in swings, against the shoulder blade.

Controlling the swing well, controlling his nerve. Just that

twist, that step back. Satisfactory performance. Not great, but... That

will do! I was thinking, that was very efficient and just what the

Swiss guys needed. You can easily through a competition away on the

high bar with a fall and he did an absolutely super job under that

pressure. Some really well executed times in that routine, to what we

have seen. You know, I think this team final, it just sums up, doesn't

it, hope diverse gymnastics is? When you move from one piece, to another,

to another and, I don't know, just how diverse and all the different

skills you need to be able to compete as a nation around the whole

gymnastics arena? 15.466 four Nagornyy. What a score for the

19-year-old. -- for. The last gymnast for Russia on the parallel

bars. He is in the parallel bar final as

well tomorrow. Somersault to handstand, locking those arms, to

one bar. Favoured by so many gymnasts now. That was really

difficult work. Into the pirouette. There is the drop chute. Front

somersault and cleanly into the handstand. Shoulders a little back

in the Healy. Drops to one bar. Into the handstand. Stutz. Can he hang

on? High into the double front, yes he can! He is looking as good as

ever. He is looking a bit fitter, a bit more slight, like he has lost

weight and he is really in control of his work. I haven't seen him

looking like this for a while, he's looking confident and he is out to

take the fight to GB. What a routine. That will be in the high

15s. It was packed, not a single moment where he just took an extra

handstand, extra weight. That would be a deduction, knees bending pass

the bar but as soon as one element was finished there was the next one

and that is how the difficulty scored builds. By adding the D and

immediately another D element. You get a bonus for that. The British

coaches as you can see knew that that was a good performance. It

makes you wonder what the situation would be if Max Whitlock was there.

They seem to be taking the opportunity, don't they? In Max's

absence. And rightly so. We would do exactly the same if their best team

player... Let's think about this. Our best guy is at home probably

watching this and GB are probably on Brazil the medal. That would have

been unheard of. -- on for a silver medal. We have to think about how

well we've done. Given the opportunities, Courtney Tulloch has

shined as he has. Remarkable. How do you feel about this? It's almost as

though it has become the norm over the past few years, we were always

fighting Russia over the top spot and that's how much British

athletics has improved in ten years. I remember growing up and my first

World Championships we were struggling to make the top ten and

we have improved year by year. And of course interestingly,...

Confirmation that Russia are well ahead of Great Britain in second.

Look at the gap between Great Britain and Switzerland in third at

the moment with one piece to go. Goodness me. I don't know how they

must be feeling. But there are now three marks between Switzerland and

Ukraine. David Belyavskiy. There is confirmation. That is a massive

score. Massive, but not as big as 15.9 66. That is one of the routines

of the competition so far. And he's the reserve for the final! Yes! What

a shame. Hopefully he may get a chance to work. You sometimes do as

a reserve. The rest of the field will be hoping that he can't after

that performance! And of course, the junior team

competition was two days ago and that was a big fight between Russia

and Great Britain as well. So it very definitely is the case that

they are the dominant forces in Europe. Yes. The junior men got

their fifth title for the team, and we will bring you up-to-date very

shortly after this competition. We will give you a quick rundown and a

video montage of what happened. This is how the final piece of apparatus,

the final rotation, I should say. Ukraine and Switzerland on floor,

Germany and France on the pommel horse and over on the rings it is

Italy and Spain. Rate Britain alongside Russia round up their

competition on the high bar. The stage is set for Dan Purvis. He has

just been superb today. And the lads can enjoy this. I hope, I really do.

They have a good buffer ahead of Switzerland in third and the key to

this is just going through and then you don't really want to rely on

your opponents to fall, but let's see what happens. The final piece of

apparatus in the men's team final. Dan Purvis has made his opening

elements. And the next combination well. That was not so spectacular.

Such a great technician on the high bar. Lovely hop, full pirouette.

Clever routine, quick routine. That was a beautiful dismount. Packed

full of difficulty. The shorter it is the less the judges can deduct.

That was a great start for Great Britain. What a team job for Dan

Purvis, put on your tracksuit, take the weight off your feet, well done,

that man. There you can see, the one on work, very clean, search a

productive performance on this piece of apparatus. Great at the in bar

work and clean through the turns and the lines. He propels high into the

air for the double twist. 13.9 in qualification. Hopefully that will

go a bit better. Germany, just warming up and getting the handle is

right ready for the pommel horse. They were probably wish they were

finishing somewhere else. Anything but the pommel horse! Exactly.

He is 25 years old. We have just seen Daniel Purvis's score. There we

are. What a consistent day he has had.

Another consistent day. See you in Rio, Dan. See you at the airport!

CHUCKLES I think Dan is definitely on the

ticket, for sure. I beg your pardon. Waldemar Eichorn is open now. Second

for Germany on the final piece. Single legwork. He picks up into the

flare. Up into the handstand. Using a bit of strength there. Got to keep

the momentum going. Well done. Back into the handstand. Another

pirouette. Back into the flare. There is the spindle. And again.

Travelling down the horse, and again in the flare. Will he use the double

leg circle? Yes, he is. Russian Wendy. There you are, keep the

momentum going. Lines up into the handstand. Full pirouette. Wind him

up and go. I tell you what, he put in so many flares, he must be

exhausted towards the end. That was a good effort. You have to say, even

though you don't get the most marks it is the most exciting. It is. It's

got flare! That is why it is called that. A bit less extension in the

end but it was still very good. Will he do any leg circle work and when

he did he realised why he was doing flares! LAUGHTER

Nile Wilson is the second gymnast for Great Britain, this is his sixth

and final piece of apparatus of the day. Like Dan he has worked all six

and he is Commonwealth champion on high bar. Nile, stand-by for

fireworks. This is a risky routine. He needs to be and concentrating.

You can see the full turning straight Kovac. Fingertips. And now

the second one in the Moyes position. Makes sure. -- the tuck

position. Now the turning, one and a half pirouette. This location. Full

turn. Very nicely done. With the half turn. Hide Tkachev, swings out

beautifully. There we go again with the mixed grip. Half turn and a big

swing up. -- high Tkachev. This is a really intense routine. Come on,

Nile, hit the dismount. Two twists, not a problem, what a performance,

Nile Wilson, you really have impressed today. Goodness me, what a

day that man has had, it was just the most outstanding high bar

routine. It was packed with difficulty and it was clean as well.

He was catching high, no arm bends all exploits. This is what I call

high bar work. He had ever thing in there, Kovac, Tkachev, this is the

best Tkachev half turn being done in the world because he makes the half

turn before catching the bar and the lines throughout, there you can see,

half turn, and he's about horizontal and he's already made the turn, I

don't like to see gymnasts catching in the mixed grip and letting the

bar turn them at the bottom. That was fantastic. What a way to finish.

So, Italy over on the rings. This is his strongest piece of

apparatus, if you will pardon the pun. Italy have had generations of

strong gymnasts on the rings, going back to the very famous Uri Keki.

There is the Maltese. Into the layout. Swing to inverter. Double

pike, double tuck. Straight to the top planche. Clean, efficient.

Circle to crucifix. Kip To crucifix. Swings into the handstand. Slight

adjustment. Got to fix the rings. Double double. Slight adjustment on

landing. That was good work from the Italian. Keeping up the tradition of

Italian rings workers, that was very nice work. Smooth, very smooth.

Italy down the second half of the competition.

That should have been over 15. Definitely. He was robbed. He

thought the same and you could see it on his face! Kristian Thomas, he

has qualified first for the high bar final and with a similar score,

actually the same as Nile Wilson but the execution and difficulty was

slightly different. Kristian Thomas, the last gymnast to go for Great

Britain in the men's team final. He is a Paul gymnast. He almost sweeps

the floor. That was a super Tkachev with full turn. Very unusual.

And the Stolder with one and half. This location. That was a lovely

shape. Tkachev with a half turn. Very smoothly out. This is a big

routine. Full pirouette. He changes the swing and lifts up high and he

puts the fall twist in. Perfect landing, Kristian Thomas has led

this team. Fantastic. Gold or silver, they've really won today.

There he is, there he is, doing what Kristian Thomas does best, he has

definitely landed on a team medal there. It wasn't just clean as we

know it can be, but obviously under that pressure. Yet again a brilliant

Tkachev with a half turn. We really do maths that skill within Britain.

And then high into the arena for the full twisting double back.

Has landings today, he just seems to know what he needs to do and when to

do it, Dan. Weaving no run for deductions and that is what you want

from your captain. 14.93, for the Italians. But they train every day.

Every afternoon. Landings... Yes, and you can gain so much in wins for

the team are the six pieces and that is what we have really concentrated

on the last couple of years. Great Britain can do no more. They have

gone all the way around, everything goal-scorer. Three scores and every

single one of them has delivered -- every single score. They just have

to sit and wait, and what Russia on high bar. -- watch Russia. Well,

this has been a fantastic tussle to watch, and you know that Russia

still have to stick three people up and go clean. I have to say the

Russian team look much more secure than I have seen them look for a few

years. Kristian, 14.233, that will do. I mean, yes, 15" the good. There

were a few errors there, and obviously you will get deducted for

that -- he was 15 in qualification. But look at that. Up on their

qualification of 267, and you can't ask for much more than that. Well,

the first gymnast Opera Russia. Three routines, every score counts

-- up for Russia. I know we keep saying it but it is important. David

Belyavskiy, qualified for the high bar final, fifth in the World

Championships on this piece of apparatus a couple of years ago.

This was actually there third-highest scoring peace

importation. -- in qualification. Lovely one And Circle.

Here comes the big release. The straddle, catcher over the bar, and

again with the turn in the straddle position. Always a very stylish

gymnast. That was a little late but he controlled it well. Into the

Markelov. And this, the stain on swings, which I think he is the only

gymnast to use -- Steinerman swings. Efficient work, very efficient

routine. Balearics skied today, he has really impressed me, and Russia

need an average of 14.38 here to take the gold -- David Belyavskiy

has really impressed me. That was probably one of the most efficient

high bar routines we have seen. Job to be done, got up there, times, in

the right position, clean on the catch, under that pressure. He will

be happy with today's work for sure -- turns, in the right position. And

he should be. Great to see him now with a bit of maturity and

confidence. He is starting to be able to show what a good gymnast he

is. I was going to say, we have often gone to competitions and

thought this guy could do a lot more. Maybe this is his year. What a

time, going into the Olympics. Perhaps that has been in the back of

his mind. That is the thing. We do not even know if he has peaked yet,

14.733. He is on the rise, absolutely superb. Has worked every

thing today? It will be interesting to see whether he is ahead of Nile.

I am looking forward to watching tomorrow. Sometimes you just need

that drive. If you do not have it internally or as an individual, but

as soon as you get up there you're doing it for somebody else, and from

a psychological perspective, that could really be what is just pushing

him, David Belyavskiy, researchers and today. And I think they have

thrived today with Team GB being one man down. Here is another gymnast

that has done a team job today, Nikita Ignatyev, superb work. Full

twisting, straight, then tucked. A lot of the gymnasts do this,

straight and then tucked. Exciting work, the release and then

recaptures. That is what makes the high bar such an exciting piece of

apparatus -- re-catches. It looks like his legs are a lot of the time.

That is the impression you get. His feet are together. The judges

probably do not get the luxury of this view. Two twists, double

straight, another good solid routine. They know they are on to do