Four of the six British men heading to Antwerp this year were in that 2011 line-up. Daniel Keatings, who had spent a year fighting back from ligament damage to be fit for Tokyo, recalls the trip as an “absolute nightmare” during which he fell from two pieces of apparatus.
“We had to sit in our rooms, sulk and think about what we had done,” said Keatings, who subsequently missed London 2012 after more injuries.
Though he returned to form spectacularly with the European pommel horse title earlier this year, Keatings has not competed at an event this prestigious since Tokyo.
What prospects, then, this time – without the intense expectation of a looming home Games?
In winning that European gold medal, Keatings vanquished one of the few ghosts Smith left intact: defeating Hungary’s Krisztian Berki, the London Olympic champion, who beat Smith in almost every encounter.
“That was an amazing statement to say ‘I’m back’ after everything that has happened,” said Keatings, whose public ambition is to become a world medallist on the pommel horse this year.
“I beat Berki in the Euros, hopefully the pressure is on him now to beat me. Louis was really happy for me. It was a big comeback.”
Smith, more like family than a team-mate to close colleague Keatings, remains in the fibre of the sport and the fabric of its conversations. It will be some time before new faces fully emerge from his shadow.
But while there is no team event at this year’s Worlds – an occasional quirk of the calendar – Smith believes his former team-mates can now share a burden he once carried alone.
“Now that the ball is rolling and people know we are a force to be reckoned with, the pressure is spread now between so many other fantastic gymnasts,” he said.
“If they saw the way I handled it, if they’re sensible and listen to any of that advice, they’ll probably go on to have a better career than I did.”
