Rhys Joshua McClenaghan BEM OLY (born 21 July 1999) is an artistic gymnast from Northern Ireland who competes internationally both for Ireland and Northern Ireland. He is considered a pommel horse specialist though he has occasionally competed on other apparatus. McClenaghan is widely recognised as one of the best pommel horse specialists of his generation, and is considered the principle successor to the most successful global pommel horse gymnast of all time, the double Olympic,[4] triple world champion Max Whitlock with whom McClenaghan's career has largely overlapped.[5]
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He is the 2024 pommel horse Olympic champion, the first gymnast to win an Olympic gold, or indeed, medal for Ireland. McClenaghan is also a double world champion on the pommel horse, having won gold in 2022 and 2023, the first Irish artistic gymnast to win world championship gold, having been the first Irish gymnast to win a world medal with bronze in 2019. He is a three-time European champion and a Commonwealth Games champion on the same apparatus. McClenaghan was the first Irish gymnast to compete in a European final and also the first to win any European medal.[6]
He is the only gymnast to become Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion on one apparatus.
In 2019, McClenaghan became the first Irish gymnast to qualify for a world championships final and also to win a medal (bronze).[1]
He also competed for Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,[7] winning gold. He followed this by winning the 2018 European Championships.[8][6] In 2023, McClenaghan won a second European title and retained the world title. His third European crown came in Rimini in 2024.
McClenaghan was named RTÉ's Sportsperson of the Year for 2023.[9]
Early life
editMcClenaghan was born in Newtownards, County Down, to Tracy, a nursery school teacher, and Danny McClenaghan, a builder.[10][11] He has an older brother, Elliot.[11]
By age six, he already displayed a precocious aptitude for gymnastics and started training at Rathgael Gymnastics Club in Bangor.[12] McClenaghan later attended Regent House School in Newtownards.[13] He has been coached by close friend Luke Carson for many years.[14][15][16]
Career
editAs an athlete from Northern Ireland, McClenaghan is eligible to compete for either Great Britain or Ireland in international competition, and for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games only.[11] Though he competed in the British gymnastics system as a youth, he opted to compete for Ireland in international competition, saying, "Gymnastics Ireland supported me the most, and that’s what made me go that route."[11]
While still technically a junior, he won the bronze medal in the 2016 British Artistic Gymnastics Championships pommel horse final behind Olympic medalists Louis Smith and Max Whitlock.[17][18] McClenaghan also won Ireland's first European Championships medal, earning silver on the pommel horse at the 2016 Junior European Gymnastics Championship.[19]
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held at the Gold Coast, Australia, McClenaghan won gold on the pommel horse, beating reigning world and Olympic champion Whitlock by dint of higher execution score, after tying on overall scores. It was Northern Ireland's first medal for an artistic gymnast at the Commonwealth Games.[20][8] At the 2018 European Championships, McClenaghan won the gold medal and became Ireland's first-ever European champion.[21][6]
After his coach, Luke Carson, was made redundant by the Rathgael club in June 2018, McClenaghan was forced to train in his back garden for a short period.[22] He then relocated to Dublin during the week,[23] upon receiving funding and accommodation from Gymnastics Ireland and Sport Ireland to train in the Sport Ireland Institute in Abbotstown.[3]
In October 2019, he won Ireland’s first World Championship medal, bronze on the pommel horse, making him the most decorated Irish gymnast of all time.[24]
McClenaghan was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to gymnastics.[25]
McClenaghan competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he came in seventh place in the men's pommel horse final.[26]
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In 2022 McClenaghan, along with fellow gymnasts Eamon Montgomery and Ewan McAteer, was banned from competing for Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) as he had previously competed internationally for Ireland.[27] The FIG suggested the trio should renounce their Irish nationality on their gymnastics licences, or that the Commonwealth Games Federation remove the relevant event from that summer's Games programme. The decision was met with backlash from politicians including Sir Brandon Lewis, Deirdre Hargey and Leo Varadkar, as well as from Commonwealth Games NI, which accused the FIG of "completely disregarding" the Good Friday Agreement, which recognised the right of Northern Irish people to be both British and Irish (McClenaghan had competed regularly at both the British and the Irish national championships.).[2] The trio were ultimately given special dispensation by the FIG allowing them to compete in Birmingham.[28]
McClenaghan resumed training in his home town of Newtownards when Carson opened a new gym in spring 2023.[23]
In the 2024 Summer Olympics, McClenaghan won the gold medal in the pommel horse, with a score of 15.533.[29] It was the first-ever Olympic gymnastics medal for Ireland.
Competitive history
edit| Year | Event | Team | AA | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | |||||||||
| 2015 | Northern European Championships |  |
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| 2016 | |||||||||
| European Championships | 13 |  |
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| Senior | |||||||||
| 2017 | Baku World Cup | 10 | |||||||
| Osijek Challenge Cup | |
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| World Championships | 14 | ||||||||
| 2018 | Doha World Cup | 4 | |||||||
| Commonwealth Games | |
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| Mersin Challenge Cup | |
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| European Championships | |
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| World Championships | 113 | ||||||||
| 2019 | Zhaoqing Challenge Cup | |
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| Irish Championships | |
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| Koper Challenge Cup | |
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| Irish Super Championships | |
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| Paris Challenge Cup | 9 | ||||||||
| World Championships | |
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| 2021 | |||||||||
| European Championships | 5 | ||||||||
| Olympic Games | 7 | ||||||||
| World Championships | 24 | ||||||||
| 2022 | Doha World Cup | |
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| Cairo World Cup | |
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| Baku World Cup | 13 | ||||||||
| Irish Championships | 4 | |
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| Commonwealth Games | 11 | |
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| European Championships | 9 | ||||||||
| Paris Challenge Cup | |
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| World Championships | |
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| 2023 | Cottbus World Cup | 5 | |||||||
| Doha World Cup | |
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| Baku World Cup | |
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| European Championships | |
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| Paris Challenge Cup | |
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| World Championships | |
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| 2024 | Doha World Cup | |
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| European Championships | |
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| Olympic Games | |
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References
edit- ^ a b c "MCCLENAGHAN, Rhys (IRL)". International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
- ^ a b "Commonwealth Games: NI secretary calls for ban on gymnasts to be lifted". BBC News. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Euros a stepping-stone to Olympics for ambitious Rhys". RTE.ie. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ Max Whitlock also has an Olympic gold medal on Floor from 2016, the first British individual gold medal in the sport of artistic gymnastics.
- ^ Ruth Gorman, 'Prince of Pommel Rhys McClenaghan reflects on World Gymnastics Championships gold medal'. UTV Sport, 10 November 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2024
- ^ a b c "Rhys McClenaghan takes pommel horse gold at Europeans". RTE.ie. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ "McCleanaghan wins Northern Ireland's first Commonwealth Gold". Belfast Telegraph. 8 April 2018.
- ^ a b Corr, Shauna (8 April 2018). "Northern Ireland gymnast Rhys McClenaghan 'pommels' Olympic champ Max Whitlock to take Commonwealth gold". Belfast Live.
- ^ 'Newtownards gymnast Rhys McClenaghan wins RTE Sportsperson of the year for 2023'. ITV News, 17 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023
- ^ "My Commonwealth Games gold is for my proud parents: Rhys McClenaghan". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Faces of Gymnastics: Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan is the 'Prince of the Pommel'". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ 'Meet Rhys McClenaghan - Ireland's latest golden wonder'. RTÉ Sport, 3 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024
- ^ "Rhys McClenaghan can go on to become Olympic golden boy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Rhys McClenaghan, 16, wins British Championship bronze". BBC News. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ Emma Montgomery, 'I wouldn't be here without my coach, says gymnast Rhys McClenaghan after becoming Ireland's first world champion'. Belfast Telegraph, 7 November 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024
- ^ Andy Gray, '"Emotions through the roof" as McClenaghan makes history'. BBC Sport, 3 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024
- ^ "McClenaghan and McAteer win British Championship bronze". BBC. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
- ^ "Gymnastics whizzkids Rhys McClenaghan and Ewan McAteer aiming high after British bronze joy - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk". Belfast Telegraph. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ "Rhys McClenaghan earns Ireland first ever European medal in gymnastics". The Irish News. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ "McClenaghan wins Northern Ireland's first Commonwealth Gold". Belfast Telegraph. 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Rhys McClenaghan wins pommel horse gold at European Championships". Belfast Telegraph. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ Leonard, Victoria (26 June 2018). "Gold medal hero Rhys trains in back garden after being 'forced' out of gymnast club". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ^ a b 'Rhys McClenaghan: NI gymnast back home in Newtownards for Olympic Games build-up'. BBC Sport, 23 May 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2024
- ^ "'Pretty amazing' - History maker Rhys McClenaghan claims bronze at Worlds". RTÉ Sport. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ^ "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N34.
- ^ "Tokyo 2020: Agony for McClenaghan as medal hopes ruined". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games: Ruling body explains NI gymnasts' exclusion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games: NI gymnastics trio's Birmingham ban overturned". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ Gunston, Jo. "Paris 2024 Gymnastics: All results, as Rhys McClenaghan wins emotional gold in men's pommel horse final". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.