Smith returns from retirement to claim gold at European Gymnastics Championships

Olympic silver medallist Louis Smith won the pommel horse on a successful day for Great Britain ©UEG

British stars were to the fore on the first day of individual apparatus finals at the European Gymnastics Championships at the Park&Suites Arena in Montpellier, as Louis Smith and Kristian Thomas each won men's titles in impressive fashion.

Smith, the London 2012 silver medallist, a bronze medallist four years earlier in Beijing, dominated the event after closest qualification rival, Russia's Matvei Petrov, fell.

The 25-year-old, who has come out of a short retirement, during which he won Strictly Come Dancing, in a bid to secure a third successive Olympic podium at Rio 2016, duly finished half a point ahead of silver medal winner, Harutyum Merdinyan of Armenia, while Italy’s Alberto Busnari took bronze.

Smith has also won three pommel horse medals at different World Championships' as well as three previous European medals, but remarkably today marked his first major victory in the event since he shot to prominence with gold at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games almost a decade ago.

"It's unbelievable, this for me was a trial, a massive competition for me to prove that I'm willing to go all the way," he told the BBC afterwards.

"It doesn't rest with this, Rio [2016] is in my mind, I want to be there."

His team mate Thomas was similarly impressive in winning the floor medal, with his greater execution enabling him to account for his slightly lower difficulty to edge Russian rival David Belyavskiy.

Pablo Braegger of Switzerland took bronze.

Kristian Thomas secured a second British victory on the floor exercise ©Getty Images

On a day where five titles were up for grabs, there was nearly a third gold for Britain as Becky Downie was narrowly edged to the uneven bars title by Russia's Daria Spiridonova.

Both posting a 6.7 difficulty score but Spiridonova’s execution was two tenths of a point better.

Sanne Wevers of The Netherlands edged out Becky Downie's younger sister, Ellie, for bronze.

There was more Russian success in the vault as Maria Paseka edged defending champion, and newly crowned all-around European champion, Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland, while Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias claimed gold in the rings.

Action is due to conclude in the French city tomorrow with the men's vault, parallel bars and high bar, while the women will compete on the beam and the floor.