Max Whitlock broke down in tears after finishing fourth in the men’s pommel horse final, as his illustrious career came to an end in Paris.

The two-time defending champion scored 15.200 for his routine but had to sit and watch as Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan stormed to the gold medal, edging out Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov and American Stephen Nedoroscik.

Whitlock almost quit after the last Olympics in Tokyo but came back 18 months ago, motivated by the prospect of winning a medal in front of his five-year-old daughter Willow.

But instead he was moved to tears as he blew kisses to her in the crowd as he contemplated the end of a career that has brought six Olympic medals.

“I am disappointed. I think because it is so raw, it is very tricky. It was my final one, I of course did not want to finish this way,” he said.

“I made the decision that Paris was going to be my final one not based on what the outcome would be, but based on just getting here in the first place and making my fourth Olympic Games.

“I am proud of that, I would have liked to end this chapter a little better but it was not to be – there is a reason for everything and it was not my day today. That is me done in the sport, it is my last routine.

“I will need a bit of time but I have never really reflected on my career. I think if there is any time to do it, it is maybe now.”

Whitlock’s disappointment came just an hour after Jake Jarman delivered Team GB’s first gymnastics medal of the Games with a third-place finish in the men’s floor final.

The two-time European champion put together a neat routine but it was only good enough for fifth, leaving Jarman conflicted between personal joy at bagging bronze and sympathy for his mate.

“I was shocked to see how low his score was and I do feel gutted for him, I really do,” he added.

Meanwhile, while one legend exited the sport on Saturday, another continued to thrive at the Bercy Arena. Simone Biles dazzled in the vault final and blew the field away to win her third gold medal of the Games.

Biles’ first vault scored a sky-high 15.700 and from there she was uncatchable, as she notched the seventh gold of her career.

"I'm super excited, ecstatic for how my vaults were. I wanted to perform them well, and I think you saw that today,” she said.

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