Commonwealth Games Gymnastics: David-Jonathan Chan wins Singapore’s first gymnastics medal

India, Thursday, October 7, 2010 — David-Jonathan Chan, 25, won Singapore’s first Commonwealth Games gymnastics medal since 1958 when he captured bronze in the Pommel Horse.

Earlier on Tuesday, David had scored 14.150 to finish third in qualification to make the final where he scored 14.200. Teammate Gabriel Gan had qualified second with a 14.450 showing and eventually finished fourth in the final with a 14.150 showing. Prashanth Sellathurai of Australia won gold with 15.500.

“I am not sure why it has taken a while for Singapore to win a gymnastics medal at this level but I am sure there will be many more to come in the future,” said David, a student of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA where he studies aerospace engineering. David was an All-American as a freshman, finishing seventh in the Vault at the NCAA finals and was also senior co-captain of the varsity team.

“I have been training very hard over the last couple of years, ever since I won a bronze at the Sea Games in 2007. I did not come into this Games with an expectation to win but all I knew was that I needed to do my best, put into practice whatever I have been doing at training and just hope for everything else to fall into place.”

“I felt that we had a chance after our qualifiers and well, I guess everything else just fell into place today. It is the Asian Games next and I hope that we will be able to do something there as well,” added David.

Men’s Pommel Horse – Detailed Results