Joe Fraser battles through pain barrier to help England win team gymnastics gold

Joe Fraser defied a ruptured appendix and a fractured foot to inspire England to gold in the men’s team gymnastics at Arena Birmingham, and keep his dream of winning multiple medals at his home city Commonwealth Games alive.

The 23-year-old battled through the pain barrier to also secure his place in four apparatus finals, just five weeks after being rushed to hospital for an emergency operation, and two after he suffered his second setback in a training accident.

Having hobbled through his final days of preparations wearing a protective air boot, Fraser, the 2019 parallel bars world champion, was forced to make the decision to withdraw from the vault and floor apparatus, a decision that ruled him out of contention for the all-around title.

Fraser posted his decision on social media earlier on Friday, explaining: “I’m truly devastated about not doing all around and I’m sorry to everyone. I believed I could get back and I dedicated everything to get myself ready for it but it just wasn’t to be.”

But despite the evident pain of some of his landings, Fraser concluded his evening’s work with a top-scoring routine on the high bar, before letting his emotions flow as he punched the air and whipped up the capacity crowd before being engulfed by his delighted team-mates.

His displays helped the England team – also comprising James Hall, Giarni Regini-Moran, Jake Jarman and Courtney Tulloch – to retain their team title by a huge margin of more than 13 points from Canada in silver medal position and Cyprus, who held their nerve to defy Australia and take a surprise bronze.

The results mean the hosts will have a full quota of apparatus finalists early next week, with Regini-Moran making three, Hall and Jarman two each, and reigning