THE 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow marked a crucial step on the road to Rio for Scotland’s Daniel Purvis and he will leave the SSE Hydro buoyed by a successful outing.
The 24-year-old – who is one of the Sunday Herald’s Six To Follow to the 2016 Olympic Games – was part of a Great Britain men’s team which made history by winning a silver medal.
The British contingent also booked their ticket to Rio with a top three spot in qualifying.
Purvis hit his own personal target of finishing in the top eight in the world in the individual all-around final with a stellar seventh place.
“Last year I finished 12th so I’m happy with such a tough field,” he said.
“A lot of people think, well, you didn’t come out with a medal. But all my training has paid off. I’m looking towards Rio and that’s the main aim.”
Purvis almost placed fifth on floor in the individual all-around finals.
He admitted that there wasn’t much sleep the night after Great Britain took that historic silver.
“We were all really happy and managed to see our families back at the hotel so that was great,” he said. “It was an emotional rollercoaster and difficult to get to sleep afterwards.
“I managed to finally switch off about 1am. It was an amazing feeling waking up that next morning and seeing my medal.”
The main priority for Great Britain coming into these world championships was to secure that top vital eight spot for Rio. To that end, mission complete.
“It is always one thing to talk about what could happen, but to come out and deliver that is a completely different scenario,” said Purvis. “I think it shows the belief there is within British Gymnastics and all of the hard work that this team has put in.
“It is unbelievable the advantage you get from a home crowd. That really carried us through. These world championships have given us a massive confidence boost.”
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