Gymnast Max Whitlock leads Super Sunday Brit medal rush by winning two golds in two hours
MAGNIFICENT Max Whitlock won two golds in as many hours last night — part of a Super Sunday that saw six gold medals for Britain.
Gymnast Max, 23, became the only Brit to win two different Olympic events on the same day.
He was first mobbed by teammates after wining the men’s floor exercise, ending Britain’s wait for its first ever gymnastics gold.
Max secured his second when he defeated British rival Louis Smith, 27, in the pommel horse final.
Yesterday also saw golds for golfer Justin Rose and Giles Scott in the Finn class sailing.
The surge saw Team GB second in the medals table.
Cyclist Jason Kenny later won gold in the men’s sprint.
Andy Murray also retained his Olympic title to give Team GB a sixth gold medal of a simply astonishing day.
In an epic four hour match against Juan Martin del Potro, the Wimbledon champ won 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5.
Beaming Max, who suffered from glandular fever in the run-up to Rio, said: “I have completely outdone myself.
“Now I can proudly say I can finish this Olympics with a smile on my face.”
Max, from Basildon, Essex, had already won bronze in the men’s all-around competition on Wednesday.
He produced an extraordinary floor routine to beat Brazilians Diego Hypolito and Arthur Mariano into second and third. The Brit was behind ex-Strictly star Smith on the horse, but claimed top spot with his final routine.
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Max’s fiancee Leah Hickton, who opted not to go to Rio over Zika virus fears, was “jumping for joy” as she watched on TV.
Louis said: “Of course I would have liked to win gold. But I would rather lose to Max than anyone else.”
Max took up gymnastics aged seven. He won two bronze medals at the London Games, but last year took three months to shake off glandular fever.
Mum Madeleine has told how Max was introduced to gymnastics by a friend and “never looked back”.
She said: “After he went along he just walked around on his hands round the house all the time and was cartwheeling everywhere.”
Greg loses title and phone
BRITISH long jumper Greg Rutherford failed to repeat his 2012 gold in Rio — then had his phone nicked afterwards.
His mobile containing pictures of two-year-old son Milo vanished after Saturday’s event.
Greg, 29, who had to settle for a bronze, tweeted: “The ultimate downer from this champs... just for the pics and videos of Milo.”