Neil Thomas (gymnast)

Neil Thomas
Born (1968-04-06) 6 April 1968
Chirk, Wrexham, Wales
Height162 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented
ClubLiverpool Gymnastics Club
Medal record
Artistic gymnastics
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Silver medal – second place1993 BirminghamFloor
Silver medal – second place1994 BrisbaneFloor
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place1990 LausanneVault
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place1990 AucklandFloor
Silver medal – second place1990 AucklandTeam
Gold medal – first place1994 VictoriaAll-Around
Gold medal – first place1994 VictoriaFloor
Bronze medal – third place1994 VictoriaVault

Neil Roderick Thomas MBE (born 6 April 1968) is a retired English artistic gymnast who experienced most of his success in the floor exercise. An acknowledged inspiration to the golden generation of British gymnasts from 2004 onwards, and a pathfinder for his national programme, he is a world silver medalist and Commonwealth Games Champion and one of the most successful British gymnasts in the history of the sport.

Gymnastics career

Born in Chirk, Wrexham in Wales on 6 April 1968, Thomas was noteworthy as a successful gymnast at world and international level at a time when British gymnastics generally did not figure at that level, and is regarded as an important torchbearer in the sport for the later successes of Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith which in turn ignited, and helped secure funding for, the revolution in British gymnastics in the 2010s that saw Great Britain become a leading nation in the sport.

Winner of three gold medals spanning two Commonwealth Games, Thomas also added a world silver medal on the floor in 1993, and repeated the feat in 1994. he finished 20th at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Representing England he won a Commonwealth gold medal on the floor and a silver in the team competition in Auckland, New Zealand.[1][2]

He also won the vault bronze medal at the 1990 European Championships. In 1993, he won Great Britain's first World Championship medal in Artistic Gymnastics (silver) 1993. A year later he won a gold medal on floor and became All-around champion at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and also won the silver medal on floor at World Championships in Brisbane.[3]

Post-retirement and personal life

He was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours for services to gymnastics and in recognition of his near single-handed achievement in putting British men's gymnastics on the map.[4]

Following retirement, Thomas works as a development officer in the north west of England.[5] He is a member of the Liverpool Gymnastics Club.[6] He is cousin to TV journalist Owen Spencer-Thomas, who was also awarded the MBE.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "1990 Athletes". Team England.
  2. ↑ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  3. ↑ British Gymnastics official website. Accessed 4 December 2009
  4. ↑ Shropshire Star front page. 31 December 1994
  5. ↑ Archived 15 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Manchester 2002 official website. Accessed 4 December 2009
  6. ↑ SR Olympic Sports official website. Accessed 5 November 2010
  7. ↑ Men’s Health p.31 August 2008
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