From dreamer to Commonwealth gold medallist: The Mancunian gymnast going back to his family roots

Fresh from creating history as Scotland’s first-ever Men’s all-round champion on Sunday night, 20-year-old Mancunian gymnast Ward was back at the Glasgow International Centre in Glasgow looking to showcase his skills as the reigning British champion on the pommel horse.

He had to settle for silver on this occasion in the Men’s Individual Final, missing out by a mere 0.034 points, with Stirling’s Lynn clinching an unexpected bronze as gold went to Jordan Carroll of Canada with a 15.000 points total in front of a passionate home crowd.

Disheartened? Absolutely not. What made Ward’s latest medal all the more impressive; a sixth place finish in the Men’s Floor Exercise Final less than two hours earlier.

There had been no time time bask in Sunday night’s celebrations, and that theme is set to continue this evening with Ward and Lynn - both draped in saltires - due to return to compete in the Horizontal Bar Final on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve still got more medals to win,” exclaimed Lynn. “We want more to celebrate after tomorrow.” Ward added: “We're just going to try and celebrate quickly now then get our heads back in the game for tomorrow, and give it our best shot.”

It capped off a memorable 24 hours for Ward as he took a moment to reflect on what he had achieved. “The celebrations were quite low-key on Sunday,” he grinned. “I just spent time with my family at the hotel. I was going to go to Team Scotland House, but I thought it would be best to stay just to keep my head in the game for these [Individual Finals].

“When my name was read out earlier and I stepped out onto the floor, it was loud! I had to take a second before I went, because the crowd was so just loud. It settled me down and I think competing earlier on maybe helped to shake out the nerves a little bit.

“I couldn’t be in a better place. I said in the build up to the Games that I was having dreams almost every night about sticking my dismount, smashing my pommel routine and the crowd going insane afterwards. I work hard every day for moments like this.”

Ward returns to his family roots to represent Scotland

Ward, whose mother is from Scotland, has developed into a real crowd pleaser during this Commonwealth Games after returning to his family roots to represent Team Scotland on his competition debut.

He took up gymnastics at the age of five and trained at clubs in Bury and Leeds, before joining the Manchester Academy of Gymnastics in Salford where his potential has been nurtured.

“I live in Manchester but Glasgow is a second home to me,” Ward admitted. “I would visit all the time as a young child. I saw the Scottish boys compete here at Glasgow 2014 and that was the first time I properly thought about the Commonwealth Games. To be standing here 12 years later is absolutely amazing, I couldn’t be more proud of what I’ve achieved.”

Bronze medal beyond Lynn’s wildest dreams

As for team captain Lynn, a bronze medal in an event he felt resigned to finishing down the 12-strong field in was beyond his wildest dreams.

“My pommel horse probably hasn't been great,” he revealed. “In my all-around yesterday, I started with it and it was a bit shaky. So today I was just going for the best routine that I could do. I don't think I could’ve done any better than that.

“We’re all a team, we're all close friends. It's an individual medal, but it’s as much their medal as it is ours because we all feel the pride and the pressure. I didn't really feel much pressure today, because I didn't think I was going to win a medal due to the standard of pommel horse work that was in this final. I was just trying to go for broke and thankfully it paid off.”

Lynn also paid a glowing tribute to his colleague Ward, adding: “I mean, he's the man. That's all I can say. He's gone out and won an all-around gold medal, the first in Scotland's history, and then to come out in a floor final and upgrade his routine on floor and on pommel, that takes a lot of confidence, that takes a lot of power.”