Joe Fraser put himself through the pain barrier to steer England to team gold as gymnastics moved on from the abuse scandal which has engulfed it in Britain.
On a hugely emotional evening in Birmingham, local hero Fraser won two disciplines and was second in another two as the defending champions were crowned kings of the Commonwealth.
The battling Brummie did so having broken his right foot only two weeks ago - and ruptured an appendix three weeks before that. That required emergency surgery and left his Commonwealth Games hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads. Yet the 23-year old refused to let his team mates down and passed himself fit to enter four of the six disciplines in last night’s team event.
“I’m hardcore,” smiled Fraser. “I believe in myself and my team believed in me so we managed it the best way we could and then strapped it up.”
It was an incredible show of courage given he was required to dismount from all four pieces of apparatus onto his damaged foot.
But the City of Birmingham gymnast did not flinch and was rewarded with his first Commonwealth title, alongside James Hall, Courtney Tulloch, Gianni Regini-Moran and Jake Jarman.
Fraser revealed: “I fractured my foot two weeks ago today and since then I've been trying to defy the odds and get back fit.
“Numerous times I thought maybe this isn't meant to be but the chance to perform in front of a home crowd, literally down the road from where I live, just made me want to push myself and achieve great things. I’m so proud of myself.”
The England team’s heroics came a month after the Whyte Review found gymnast wellbeing and welfare "has not been at the centre of British Gymnastics' culture”.
The governing body were accused of presiding over an “epidemic of abuse’ and the new chief executive issued a “wholehearted” apology to the victims.
It would have been easy for all in the sport to lose their focus in the face of a backlash to the torrent of shocking findings. But Fraser and his pals did not get where they are by shirking a challenge - particularly with a full house inside the National Indoor Arena.
With eyes back on the sport for the first time since the bombshell review dropped, the quintet heeded Fraser’s battle cry and made light work of their opponents.
England were in a different league, taking the title with a score of 254.550 ahead of Canada (241.200) and Cyprus (239.650).
With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Fraser was too good for the rest on the Pommel before getting the biggest roar of the night by landing his dismount off the high bar without so much as a grimace.
