Giarnni Regini-Moran has become the first British male world champion on the floor exercise after he narrowly held off the world and Olympic all-around champion, Daiki Hashimoto of Japan, to win gold in Liverpool on Saturday.
After playing a big role in Great Britain’s dramatic comeback to win bronze in the men’s team final, the 24-year-old won his first global individual medal and GB’s fourth medal in five historic days. “It means the absolute world,” he said. “I almost feel like I’ve completed life now.”
He pulled it off by demonstrating his typical power and high difficulty. Regini-Moran opened with a huge triple-twisting double back somersault, landing with just a step back, which he immediately followed with a clean double-twisting double back.
Deep in his routine, Regini-Moran still had the energy to throw down a difficult front double pike with a half twist. His score of 14.533 moved him into first place, which no other gymnast threatened until Hashimoto, the final performer, delivered a score of 14.500. The 0.033 difference was largely down to Hashimoto landing his own triple-double with his chest low.
“In my head I was just thinking: ‘Do your routine, land on your feet’,” said Regini-Moran. “I was capable of a mid-14 score. I thought: ‘If I land on my feet, I’ll get that score’ and that’s what I did.”
Although his talent has been known globally for a long time, ever since he dominated the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, his body has often not complied. In 2016, he snapped his posterior cruciate ligament and fractured his tibia after a fall from the high bar, then he fractured his ankle in 2018.
Even after finally establishing himself on the world stage last year, the injuries did not abate. At the end of 2021, he underwent surgery on both shoulders and his ankle. But he worked hard through his trials and the perseverance he has shown in his young career has paid off in full.
“To bounce back and be where I am with this gold medal around my neck, I can’t believe it,” he said.
In the rings final, Courtney Tulloch won a fifth medal for Great Britain in Liverpool as he clinched a bronze medal behind Turkey’s Adem Asil and Zoe Jingyuan of China. At 27 years old, Tulloch is one of the oldest members of the British team and his bronze medal marks his first world championship medal.
Meanwhile, Rhys McClenaghan became Ireland’s first ever gymnastics world champion as he dominated the pommel horse final to win his first major gold medal. McClenaghan, a former European and Commonwealth champion on pommel horse, overcame his recent struggles in major finals to dominate the competition with his far superior form and execution, winning gold with a score of 15.300.
