England’s bid for a fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games men’s artistic gymnastic team title ended in the final rotation on July 24. However, the scoreline barely registered next to what happened moments earlier. Nineteen-year-old Gabriel Langton fell from the high bar, missing a grab mid-routine and landing on his head and neck, and the arena in Glasgow went silent as medical staff rushed onto the floor.

Team England had been trailing Canada heading into that rotation, still within range of gold. Langton appeared motionless immediately after the impact. Nine medical staff attended to him before he was placed on a stretcher and taken from the arena in a neck brace. He showed signs of response as he was carried out, moving his arms and legs.

Watching from the broadcast booth, three-time Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock, the gymnast Langton had replaced on the team, described what he’d seen.

“Both hands came off the bar, which is unusual on a skill like that, and then coming down onto his head from that height,” Whitlock said. “It wasn’t nice to watch.”

Team England later confirmed Langton had been taken to hospital. “We are grateful to the medical teams who responded immediately to provide assistance,” the team said in a statement.

“He has been taken to hospital and we will share more information when it is available.”

Langton had only joined the squad this month, called up after Whitlock withdrew with a hand injury. Once the competition resumed following a lengthy delay, he was unable to join his teammates on the podium.

Luke Whitehouse had the difficult job of following Langton straight back onto the high bar. He managed just 11.70 on the apparatus, leaving him 23rd overall on the event.

“When something like that happens, you’ve just got to forget about it and reset,” he said. “I just had to focus on my routine one skill at a time.”

Canada’s Félix Dolci offered his own tribute to how England responded.

“All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team,” he said. “Pushing through this is definitely not easy. England stayed focused, they stayed in the zone. A huge shout out to them because that’s not an easy one.”

Once the competition resumed, the gold medal itself still had to be settled, and it came down to that same apparatus.

Canada hold off England’s late fight to claim historic Commonwealth Games gold

Seven nations competed across the six men’s apparatus, including England, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Cyprus and Wales. Canada moved into the lead through the opening rotations and led with 122.200 points after three, with England in second and Australia and Scotland also in the mix for the podium.

England pushed back as the meet wore on. Whitehouse gave the team an early lift with the top floor exercise score of the night, and Alexander Yolshin-Cash produced the best parallel bars routine to help close the gap on Canada.

Canada’s lead nearly slipped away during that same high bar rotation, before Langton’s fall, when veteran René Cournoyer came off the apparatus and scored low, opening the door for England to push for gold heading into the final routine. Dolci shut that door again, delivering the top score on high bar to seal the win.

Canada won gold with 241.400 points, its first Commonwealth Games men’s team title in 20 years. England finished second, and Australia took bronze. For now, the result sits behind the bigger question in the arena: Team England has yet to share a further update on Langton’s condition since confirming he’d been taken to hospital.