Alex Shatilov cemented his place as one of Israel’s best medal hopes at next summer’s London Olympics on Saturday, claiming a bronze medal in the Floor final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo.The 24-year-old Israeli won his second World Championships medal in three years after also taking a bronze in the Floor final in 2009, recording on Saturday a score of 15.466, which also secured his place at the 2012 Olympics.Shatilov, who also won a silver medal at the European Championships earlier this year, missed much of 2010 through a serious knee injury, but is now clearly back to his very best and is confident of scaling the podium once more in London next summer.var ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e16);document.write('');“I’m delighted with this achievement,” said Shatilov, who ended Friday’s All- Around final in 13th place with an overall score of 87.433. “I had a flawless exercise and as I was the last to compete I knew the score I had to record to take a medal. I knew that if I get it right I will win a medal and set the criteria for London. I can now relax because my place at the Olympics is secure and I have no doubt that I am well capable of taking a medal in London. I will do whatever it takes so that it will be a golden one.” Kohei Uchimura of Japan took the gold on Saturday with a score of 15.633, with China’s Zou Kai winning the silver with 15.500 and Diego Hypolito of Brazil also claiming a bronze with an identical score to Shatilov.
