King of Spin McClenaghan now targeting Tokyo gold

Only one thing intimidated gymnast Rhys McClenaghan when he made Irish sporting history at the World Championships in Germany last weekend — meeting Simone Biles.

“It was at the gymnasts’ banquet afterwards and I was actually a little bit nervous because it was the first time I met her,” he admitted of chatting with the American superstar. “You look at some celebrities and think ‘do they deserve all this money and all this fame?’ and she 100% does.

“She is the greatest of all time and to see her bringing gymnastics to the public eye even more than it already is — as a gymnast that’s very good to see.”

Ireland’s burgeoning ‘King of Spin’ has now assumed similar super-hero status for young gymnasts on this island after winning the country’s first medal — bronze on the pommel horse — in a world championship.

His trademark nerveless display was particularly special because so little separated the top three — which included the Olympic champion — and because it came less than a year after shoulder surgery. It’s also propelled him into one of Ireland’s serious medal contenders at next year’s Tokyo Olympics but he isn’t remotely fazed by the additional expectation on his young shoulders.

“I’m no stranger to pressure and I don’t let it get to me whatsoever,” said the remarkably mature 20-year-old from Newtownards.

I do, of course, feel nervous on the day of the competition but it’s a strange, strange thing. As soon as my hands go on the handles, everything goes away. It’s like second nature to me. It feels like home when I put my hands on it. I think that goes back to the numbers (of repetitions) I put in in the gym.

A Commonwealth and European champion last year while still in his teens, McClenaghan was frustrated by injury at the last two World Championships and had to go under the knife last November.

“This is very special to me after coming back from surgery because of how difficult it was. I had to re-learn basics that I was doing when I was eight years old,” he revealed.

“I couldn’t lift my arm above my shoulder and I had the most time off ever, the whole month of December. To have no physical exercise like that was like a big drop off the mountain. It’s mentally challenging as well as physically, so this is why I’m so proud and honoured to have this world medal around my neck.”

The top three in his ultra-competitive world pommel final were only separated by a 10th of a point and gold was won by Britain’s 2016 Olympic champion Max Whitlock, whom McClenaghan pipped in the 2018 Commonwealth final.

The Irish star was actually the only finalist to score nine for ‘execution’ which is extremely rare at this level. Whitlock’s routine had a higher ‘degree of difficulty’ (valued at 7 compared to McClenaghan’s 6.4) but he is confident he can match the Briton on that element in time for Tokyo 2020.

“Now we can look at building difficulty while maintaining that execution score,” he said. “Getting Olympic qualification was my goal, the medal was a bonus. That is my base routine and there is so much more I can add in. I have most of the skills in the bag (already). It is just about putting them in the routine where there is that extra endurance aspect as well.”