Over coming thumb injury takes some pain out of Canadian gymnasts early exit from London Olympics

It was a frustrating end to a miserable two months but after battling back from a painful thumb injury Canadian gymnast Nathan Gafuik could find some solace in his performance at the London Olympics.

Gafuik fell during his horizontal bar routine during the qualification round Saturday. It was the only event for Canada's long male artistic gymnast in London.

"It wasn't the best routine obviously, but under the circumstances, I feel I rose to the occasion," the 27-year-old from Calgary told Rachel Brady of The Globe and Mail. "I ended up falling, but successfully you could say, all things considered."

Gafuik even planned to reward himself with a little celebration.

"Im going to McDonald's first," he laughed.

Until a week ago Gafuik wasn't sure if he was going to be able to compete. In early June he suffered a thumb injury that resulted in two pins being inserted to repair ligament damage. He was in a cast for two weeks and a brace for the next two.

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"I told my surgeon the day of the surgery that I needed to compete on this date, and he said 'ha, yeah, okay'," said the five-foot-five gymnast. "So I guess I beat the odds. It was probably the worst two months of my life, so I was proud just to be here."

Gafuik decided not to compete in the floor, rings, vault, horse or parallel bars because the events bothered his hand too much. He needed a top-eight finish in the horizontal bar, typically his strongest event, to make to the final. His score of 13.866 left him 46th in a field of 70.

Gafuik was the youngest member of the Canadian artistic gymnastic team that qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He made the all-around final, finishing 17th. That was the second-best all-around performance ever by a Canadian gymnast.

With his London Games over Gafuik plans to heal then start thinking ahead to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"I'm taking a little time off to let this thing heal properly and then I'll be right back in the gym to give it another shot,'' he said. " Canada needs to get a men's team to the Olympics next time.

"There is a sense at home that we will definitely achieve that again. It's four years away, and I'm absolutely positive about the future."

More London Olympics content from Yahoo! Canada Sports:
• Photos: Canadian gymnasts in London
• Emilie Heymans embraces change yet again
• Controversy over half-empty Olympic venues
• Video: Medals boost morale for Canadian athletes