Competing before a home crowd at the Olympics can cut two ways. If it works to his favor, Britain’s Louis Smith could walk away with the first individual gold medal for a British gymnast in more than a century. On the other hand, if the effort to reward a nation proves burdensome, he could be hard-pressed to put together a winning routine in one of most technically challenging events in his sport – the pommel horse. One slight slip in spinning about the horse can spell disaster.
Smith, who is Sports Illustated’s pre-Olympic pick to take the gold, must beat reigning world champion Krisztian Berki of Hungary. To do that, Smith has vowed to go for broke and has good reason for confidence since he won the Olympic silver medal in 2008. Even if he should falter in his best event, Smith is on a British team considered a dark horse for a medal, something the Brits haven’t won since the women’s squad won a bronze in 1928. After his gymnastics career, which began at age 4, Smith says he would like to start his own clothing brand.
