Kristian Thomas

Kristian James Thomas (born 14 February 1989 in Wolverhampton) is a British former artistic gymnast. A long-standing member of both the England and Great Britain men's teams, he was a member of the British team that won gold in the 2012 European Championships team event, and a historic bronze in the same event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won his first global individual medal in the 2013 World Championships, a bronze in vault; it was also the first global medal ever won in vault by a British male gymnast. In 2015 he won his first major international title, gold in the floor exercise at the 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Kristian Thomas
Thomas at the 2015 European Championships
Personal information
Full nameKristian James Thomas
Country represented Great Britain
 England
Born (1989-02-14) 14 February 1989
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team2006–2017 (GBR)
ClubEarls Gymnastics Club
Head coach(es)Michelle Bradley, Andrei Popov
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2012 LondonTeam
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 GlasgowTeam
Bronze medal – third place2013 AntwerpVault
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2012 MontpellierTeam
Gold medal – first place2015 MontpellierFloor exercise
Silver medal – second place2010 BirminghamTeam
Silver medal – second place2014 SofiaTeam
Silver medal – second place2016 BernTeam
Silver medal – second place2016 BernHorizontal bar
Bronze medal – third place2014 SofiaHorizontal bar
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2014 GlasgowTeam
Silver medal – second place2014 GlasgowVault
Silver medal – second place2014 GlasgowHorizontal bar
Bronze medal – third place2006 MelbourneTeam

Thomas was coached by Michelle Bradley and Alexei Popov, and is a member of the Earls gymnastics club.[2] He was born in Wolverhampton.

On 19 October 2017 Kristian announced his retirement from gymnastics.

Junior career

In 2006, Thomas attended the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, where he placed 12th and helped the English gymnastics team win the bronze medal.[3]

Senior career

Thomas rose to prominence in British gymnastics, when he won the British all-around title in 2008. Floor is his best event, and during his Senior career he has won several silver medals on floor in International competitions. At the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in London, he placed 6th in the All-Around. He was also part of the British men's team that represented Great Britain at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam and the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo.

After the men's team initially failed to qualify to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Thomas gave a solid performance at the London Prepares FIG Olympic Test event. The men's team qualified more than 7 points ahead of the silver medal team, France, and Thomas placed 2nd in the All-Around behind teammate Daniel Purvis, as well as qualifying to several finals.[4] In the finals he won a Bronze on Floor, Bronze on Vault and Gold on High Bar.[5][6]

Summer Olympics in London

At the London Olympics, Thomas was part of the bronze medal-winning GB men's team, competing on 30 July 2012 at the North Greenwich Arena .[7] In this team final, he vaulted with a massive score of 16.550.

In October, 2013, Thomas competed at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. In the vault final, he won the bronze with the score of 15.233, behind Yang Hak-Seon and Steven Legendre.

European Championships

On May 19–25, 2014, at the 2014 European Championships in Sofia. Thomas along with his teammates (Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis, Max Whitlock, Sam Oldham) won Team Great Britain the silver medal behind Russia with a total score of 262.087 points. In event finals, Thomas won the bronze medal in high bar (14.808) behind teammate Sam Oldham.[8]

Commonwealth Games

In July and August, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Thomas contributed a score of 58.599 for the England team and won gold. He qualified for the vault final with a score of 15.100, and also finished in 8th in the Floor final. With a score of 15.033 he also qualified for the Horizontal bar final. He won a silver for vault with a score 14.499, coming behind Canadian gymnast Scott Morgan. Thomas scored 14.966 on Horizontal Bar, matching teammate Nile Wilson's score, but scoring lower on execution to win silver.

References
  1. "Kristian Thomas". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  2. British Gymnastics Media Guide for 2011 Worlds
  3. "The Leading Source of Gymnastics News".
  4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/gymnastics/16497612.stm BBC News 10 January 2012: Olympic gymnastics test event: Britain's men qualify for London 2012 (retrieved 11 January 2012)
  5. http://www.british-gymnastics.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2391&Itemid=97 British Gymnastics: London Prepares test event – Apparatus finals day one
  6. http://www.british-gymnastics.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2394%3Alondon-prepares-test-event-apparatus-finals-day-two&catid=1%3Anews&Itemid=97 British Gymnastics: London Prepares test event – Apparatus finals day two
  7. "Olympic gymnastics: bronze for GB as Japan win silver on appeal". BBC News. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  8. "Ablyazin, Wilson Dominate European Finals". international gymnast. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
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