It is history for Rhys McClenaghan once again. The 20-year-old, who was the first-ever Irish gymnast to reach a World Championships final, secured a bronze medal in the Pommel Horse.
The Irishman pushed Max Whitelock all the way while 2018 bronze medalist Lee Chih-kai took second. The winning score was 15.5 for the Englishman, with McClenaghan scoring 15.4 with 6.4 difficulty and 9,00 execution.
He cut a content figure afterwards. It comes amidst a remarkable week after the 2018 European champion already secured 2020 Tokyo Games qualification.
McClenaghan was cheered on by his proud parents and coach Luke Carson. He just lost out on second place, with Chih0kai securing a 15.433 for his efforts.
Speaking to Balls.ie earlier this year, McClenaghan said the Olympics is the ultimate goal.
Going to the Olympics is a dream for most athletes - it’s huge. It’s the highlight of most athletes’ careers, even boxers who go on to do even bigger things in the pros, a lot of them will still say that.
Even though they are making millions outside of amateur sports, they still look back and see that Olympic medal they won as the most special moment of their career, never mind the money. That just shows how powerful an event this is.
Onto Tokyo.
