Louis Smith (gymnast)

Louis Smith MBE
Smith at Our Greatest Team Parade in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Louis Antoine Smith
Nickname(s)	Lou, Lou-Lou
Country represented	Great Britain  England
Born	(1989-04-22) 22 April 1989 (age 27) Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Hometown	Peterborough
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Club	Huntingdon Gymnastics Club
Head coach(es)	Paul Hall
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Men's artistic gymnastics Olympic Games 2012 London Pommel horse 2016 Rio de Janeiro Pommel horse 2008 Beijing Pommel horse 2012 London Team World Championships 2010 Rotterdam Pommel horse 2015 Glasgow Team 2015 Glasgow Pommel horse 2007 Stuttgart Pommel horse 2011 Tokyo Pommel horse European Championships 2015 Montpellier Pommel horse 2012 Montpellier Team 2009 Milan Pommel horse 2010 Birmingham Team 2010 Birmingham Pommel horse 2012 Montpellier Pommel horse 2016 Bern Team Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne Pommel horse 2014 Glasgow Team 2006 Melbourne Team 2014 Glasgow Pommel horse

Louis Antoine Smith, MBE (born 22 April 1989) is a British artistic gymnast. He received a bronze medal and a silver medal on the pommel horse at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics respectively, with the former marking the first time a British gymnast had placed in an Olympic event since 1928. He followed this up with a second consecutive silver medal on the pommel horse at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing behind teammate Max Whitlock. Smith was part of the Great Britain team that took the bronze in the men's artistic team all-around at the 2012 London Olympics. He is the only British gymnast to win Olympic medals in three separate Games. In 2015 he became the European champion on Pommel Horse.

Smith is a member of the Huntingdon Gymnastics Club, training alongside teammate Daniel Keatings under coach Paul Hall. He was a part of the European Gold medal winning Great Britain's men's team in 2012, 2010 Commonwealth Games Champion, and is also a four-time European Silver medallist.

Away from the gym, Smith's high media profile has offered a number of television opportunities in his home country. He also won the 2012 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Smith was born in Peterborough to his English mother, Elaine, who separated from his Jamaican-born father, Claude, when he was three. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 1995 and was on Ritalin from when he was six until he was eleven. His mother commented that it was a case of his "running around the house and climbing everywhere or going somewhere more structured." His local friends included Aston Merrygold, later a member of boy band JLS.