Kent gymnasts took two of the top five places in the men’s vault final at the European Artistic Championships.

Giarnni Regini-Moran, from Dartford, claimed his first major championship medal as a senior after taking bronze while Maidstone’s Courtney Tulloch finished fifth.

Regini-Moran, 22, attends the Manchester Academy of Gymnastics club and he was the first to compete in the men’s vault final in Basel. He set the mark for all of those that followed.

His first vault was a triple twisting Tsukahara and he competed a Dragalescu vault second – another highly difficult vault – and again had great form and a step back on landing for 14.400. That gave him an average of 14.583 and was enough to take third.

Speaking afterwards, he said “I feel amazing. Going first up felt like a good thing. I could just get the job done and then it’s just sitting, waiting and praying - thankfully I got the job done.

“I worked hard, got my triple twist back and then focused on the Dragalescu vault. Qualifying was the first time I’d competed it and then to do it again in the final, I’m so happy.

“My heart was beating, my hands were sweating, sitting and watching the scores come in, then standing on the podium with the medal round my neck, I was still in shock. I've had a tough few years so to have this senior medal feels very special and long may it continue.”

He was the all-around and floor champion at the 2016 European junior event but missed most of 2017 through injury, fighting back to claim silver at the 2019 British Championships.

Tulloch, from the Pegasus gym in Maidstone, was just 0.070 of a mark behind his fellow Kent competitor. He also produced a well-executed Dragalescu, finishing with an average score of 14.516.

Reacting afterwards, Tulloch wrote on Twitter: “Down but not out. Such a close fought final! I truly believe I can battle it out with the best on vault now and I take tremendous pride in that. I will get to that podium. To be continued…”