GB men finish fourth, must wait for LA28 Olympic berth

Great Britain fell just short of early qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games after finishing fourth in the men’s team final at the World Championships in Rotterdam. Only the three teams on the podium secured a spot for the Games, with defending champions Japan winning gold, Russia taking silver and China earning bronze.

The British squad – Courtney Tulloch, Joe Fraser, Jake Jarman, Harry Hepworth and Reuben Ward – qualified for the final in second place and posted a total of 247.395 on Tuesday. They led the competition after four of the six rotations, but Japan, Russia and China all posted stronger scores in the final two rotations, pushing Great Britain out of the medals. Japan finished with 251.928.

The next opportunity for the team to qualify will come at the 2027 World Championships in Chengdu, China, where a top‑nine finish will earn a place in Los Angeles.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Joe Fraser said the team believes they are in a position to challenge for future titles. “I think collectively, as a team, we can look at the overall of the team final and know that we are definitely amongst the best in the world, and we can compete with the best in the world,” Fraser said. “We were taking Japan right the way to the end, and up until the parallel bars, we were with them. So we know as long as we can work on our routines from the parallel bars and the high bar, we can really contend to be world champions maybe next year.”

The Gymnastics World Championships continue through Sunday, 25 October, with coverage available on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.