Woking Gymnastics Club’s Oli Porter helped England to their first men’s team medal at the Northern European Gymnastics Championships in Leicester.

The annual competition saw teams including Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Scotland fight it out for the team and the individual all around titles. Medals were also up for grabs on the individual pieces – floor, pommel, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal (high) bar.

Porter was the only junior to be selected for the team and helped England win a silver medal with an impressive total score of 303.550, a small distance behind the eventual winning team from Wales.

In the all-around competition, Porter scored a personal best 74.100, finishing in sixth place, the highest placed junior in the competition, and the second highest scoring gymnast from England. His performance also saw him qualify for the pommel and parallel bars finals.

Porter gave another good performance in the finals, competing against older, more experienced gymnasts, and although he was disappointed with his pommel routine that saw him finish in fifth place, Porter bounced back and took the bronze medal in the parallel bars final.

Porter said: “It was a really good experience for my first senior international competition.

“There was a really good team spirit and we all helped each other to perform well.

“I was the youngest member of the team, but all the coaches and gymnasts looked out for me.

“My family and coach travelled up to watch the competition on the Friday, which also gave me confidence.”

Porter, who is a student at Woking College, is a member of the men’s squad at Woking Gymnastics Club, and is coached by Craig Woodhams.

Porter prepared for the Northern Europeans with a series of competitions in Munich, Germany, representing TSV Unterfohring, after he successfully completed a trial in August.