Gymnast Smith 'ecstatic' at bronze

The captain of Britain's bronze medal-winning gymnastic team said he was "ecstatic" about their victory.

Louis Smith, 23, hinted that it may be his last Olympics however, saying he would be too old to compete at the next Games.

Speaking after the historic win, the first medal for Britain's male gymnasts in 100 years, Smith told ITV's Daybreak: "We're very ecstatic about what we've done. We've overcome a lot of people thinking we couldn't do it.

"We went out there, we had fun, and we became Olympic bronze medallists."

The Peterborough gymnast, who won an individual bronze at the Beijing Games and has also previously auditioned for the X Factor, was asked if the team would get a gold in Rio.

Smith said: "I don't know if I'll be there in four years' time, but I'm sure some of these young ones will be. In four years' time, I'll be 27 - I want kids by then."

He joked he may also pursue his singing career, adding: "Maybe my voice will mature."

Max Whitlock, 19, insisted they were pleased with the bronze, despite initially thinking they had won the silver medal at the North Greenwich Arena.

A successful appeal by the Japanese team saw their marks increased and they moved to second, pushing Team GB down to third and leaving the Ukraine team empty-handed by dropping to fourth.

Whitlock, who lives in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, said: "We're not annoyed about it. We had no expectations of getting a medal.

"We wanted to get out there and have fun, and we did. First of all we thought we had a silver medal, but silver or bronze medal - it doesn't matter really. We made history getting a bronze medal."

Sam Oldham said the crowd, who included the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, had helped spur them on to victory. The five-strong team were given a standing ovation by the royal brothers when they won.

The 19-year-old told the ITV1 programme: "It's amazing. I think it's going to take a while to sink in.

"The support we got from the audience - from the whole British public really - it was incredible. We're all very overwhelmed."

Daniel Purvis, 21, from Crosby, Merseyside, praised his team-mates, saying: "There was always an outside chance of us getting a medal, especially with this team of boys - it's like a wolf pack really."

Wolverhampton-born Kristian Thomas, 23, said all of the team had been "putting in the hard work". He added: "It was a team effort. I think we did ourselves credit yesterday."

Until Monday, a British men's team had not won a medal since the 1912 Stockholm Games, when the team brought home a bronze.