Louis Smith may be playing down how good he still is as he returns to gymnastics but Olympic bronze medal winning teammate Daniel Purvis isn’t ahead of the British Championships.
Purvis and Smith were part of the British quintet that won a first men’s Olympic team medal in a century with bronze at London 2012 before the latter took time away from the sport.
Three-time Olympic medallist Smith is now back though and won pommel horse silver at the English Championships, which Purvis – the former British all-around champion – was absent from.
Both will compete in Liverpool at the British Artistic Gymnastics Championships though and Purvis is expecting a tough test from across the board to regain his title.
"It was a bit of a shock for me as I wasn't sure what level he [Smith] would be at but he came in and his pommel routine was almost as good as when he went out of the sport," said Purvis.
"It was good to see him come back so strong and it seems to have done him some good having quite a bit of time off.
"Everyone looks up for it so I think it will be one of the highest-level British Championships. Everything is going well for us individually, so it'll be interesting.”
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