It proved to be a roller coaster night for Great Britain's men at the Gymnastics World Championships as they went from the brink of heartbreak to the euphoria of the podium in the space of two breathtaking floor routines.

The team of Max Whitlock, Dan Purvis, Brinn Bevan, Nile Wilson, Louis Smith and Kristian Thomas watched from the sidelines on Tuesday as the girls claimed an historic bronze before going one better and taking silver on Wednesday.

A year ago the Brits finished fourth in China and, for a moment, it looked like the same fate lay in store in their own back yard with the USA and Japan on course for gold and silver and China storming from behind put themselves on the brink of bronze.

But a stellar floor routine from Purvis earned him 15.400 and left Whitlock with a fighting chance after China had faltered and the USA showed the first signs of vulnerability.

What followed was 90 seconds of brilliance from Whitlock as he produced an ice-cold performance under intense pressure – scoring 15.766 to guarantee silver.

But as the celebrations subsided Japan's Kohei Uchimura fell from the high bar and suddenly gold became a very real proposition in an astounding crescendo.

In the end it wasn't to be and Britain had to settle for silver, but Purvis insists there is no hint of disappointment after a memorable night.

“To get that was fantastic, and waiting around if you know you’ve done a good routine it’s a nice feeling but if you’ve made a couple of little mistakes then it’s scary,” he said.

“It was an unbelievable finish. Me and Kristian thought that we were fighting for bronze to be honest and weren’t really looking at the scores, then all of a sudden we were in second and pushing for gold."

“That’s incredible, especially in this sport. A few years ago we were nowhere near China or Japan and to come here and get the silver medal is unbelievable."

“It’s a dream come true. Years ago this would never have happened, and now the system is just so good and the juniors coming through are very talented as well.”

The night had started well for Britain with Smith producing an assured pommel routine and Whitlock also looking strong.

A solid set of performances on the rings was to follow before the Brits really got going with outstanding work on the vault – Whitlock, Thomas and Purvis all scoring above 15.

There was more to follow on the parallel bars but a slight hiccup for Wilson on the high bar meant reigning champions China were back in the hunt.

But the Brits held their nerve and weren't to be beaten with Thomas, Purvis and Whitlock bringing the curtain down on an incredible night of action.

“We are the underdogs and to beat China to silver is incredible and I never would have thought we would be in a position as a team where we would be beating China,” said Smith.

“We did our job and we are capable of great things, we said it before that this sport is very unpredictable."

“And when push comes to shove a lot of time it's down to who holds their nerve and there's no other way to say it – we did the job."

“We did 18 clean routines and you just can't argue with that at the end of the day.”

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