Louis Smith addresses ‘snubbing’ his teammate Max Whitlock after losing out on gold medal
Louis has broken his silence
When Olympic gymnast Louis Smith lost out on a gold medal to his Team GB teammate Max Whitlock, viewers of the show slammed him and believed he had deliberately ‘snubbed’ Max.
With commentators suggesting a tension between the two British gymnasts, viewers were quick to speculate that Louis didn’t like his teammate after it seemed like he failed to shake hands with him.
Now Louis has broken his silence on the matter, admitting he felt the need to defend himself.
Appearing on This Morning, Louis said “I spent hours that night just trying to defend myself, when really I should’ve been on the phone to my mum and just enjoying it.”
This Morning | © ITV
The silver medallist went on to explain what really happened with Max. He said “I’ve been training over twenty years, with the dream that I want to be at the Olympic Games and an Olympic champion… and to know you haven’t got that gold medal, I needed a minute to let that sink in. I just needed a moment.
“At this point there were still a couple more competitors to go, and in between the routines, the cameras come down and film your reactions and then the camera went back to the ones left to go on the pommel horse, and during this time, I got myself up, went over to Max’s coach and gave him a big hug, said congratulations, then saw Max, gave him a big hug…”
When Ruth Langsford told Louis none of it was caught on camera, he replied saying the footage had gone back to focus on the Russian’s routine.
Max Whitlock and Louis Smith | © PA Images
Louis was quick to tell Ruth and Eamon that the pair laughed about the headlines. He said "We laughed about it. It’s just silly. We’ve been out every night since; we’ve been having a great time in Rio. Apart from that negative bit of criticism."
The 27-year-old equalled his medal success from London 2012, where he won a silver medal in the men’s pommel horse competition. The athlete looked overcome with emotion as he received the medal and has now admitted his tears were a mixture of ‘relief’ and ‘being proud’.
Louis Smith | © PA Images
Speaking about his hunt for a gold medal, Louis admitted he thinks he will go to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic games.
Watch the full interview below: