Given the misfortune that followed Joe Fraser just weeks before the Commonwealth Games arrived in his home city of Birmingham, merely standing on the podium floor at the beginning of the Games as a competitor was a considerable win.
Five weeks before the Games he ruptured his appendix. Two weeks before them he fractured a foot. He limped into the athletes’ village in a protective boot. ButFraser wanted far more than simply being able to compete and somehow, through the pain, he worked to achieve it. On Monday he became an individual Commonwealth Games champion, winning gold on the pommel horse. He seized his first individual medal by working his way through a smooth, precise and near faultless routine, winning with a score of 14.833.
