Whelan claims double bronze at European Championships

By Sportsbeat staff

HANNAH Whelan claimed double bronze - including Britain's first-ever major beam medal - at the European Gymnastics Championships in Brussels.

PODIUM: Hannah Whelan won bronze in the floor and on the beam at the European Gymnastics Championships in Belgium (Reuters)

Whelan stuttered on the beam during Saturday's team final, in which a youthful British squad finished fourth, but she put that right in style in the individual finals.

Showing great balance and strength she reaped the dividends of a difficult routine tariff to score 14.333 points, finishing behind Romania's Catalina Ponor and Larisa Iodache, who won gold and silver respectively.

Whelan, the reigning British all-round champion, then produced a perfectly executed floor routine, combining outstanding dance, great confidence, maturity and plenty of style to claim another third place.

Iordache and Ponor again took the other medals, although their positions were reversed from the beam final.

Whelan said: “It feels amazing I’m over the moon, it’s really unexpected. 

"I wanted to come out and enjoy the competition and I definitely did. I enjoy training beam and feel naturally comfortable on it and to get our first ever medal on that piece is very special. 

"I've always dreamed of getting major medals and to come away with two is unbelievable. 

"It gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year.”