'If I change it would just be panic mode': Rhys McClenaghan determined to stick with routine

RISING STAR: Rhys McClenaghan is sticking with his routine. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Rhys McClenaghan is determined to stick with the routine that he believes can deliver more world and Olympic success, starting with the upcoming European Championships, despite the disappointment of a sixth-place finish in last week's Commonwealth Games.

The Newtownards gymnast finished sixth in the pommel horse final in Glasgow after judges declined to award the difficulty value for his new opening mount, a decision that significantly reduced his score.

Rather than abandoning the upgraded routine ahead of the Europeans, which take place in Zagreb from August 19-23, McClenaghan says he is considering only a minor adjustment.

"It would maybe be downgrading that first mount," he revealed. "It's still in line with the new routine, it wouldn't be drastically changing the construction or anything.

"I'm sticking with that routine, and it just needs to be that way. If I change the entire routine then it would just be panic mode, and I'm not in that place. I know I can perform this routine really nicely, so I'll hopefully be doing that."

The 27-year-old explained that a change to the Code of Points post-Paris has made life considerably more difficult for gymnasts attempting high-risk skills.

Where judges were previously instructed to give competitors the benefit of the doubt on borderline elements, that guidance has now been reversed.

"If they're in doubt, they don't give it to the gymnast," McClenaghan explained. "It's made judging extra harsh. There are so many questionable things judges could deduct for or not give skills for, but now they're always being pushed not to give the skills.

"I'm not sitting here saying they should have given me that skill. I should be doing it better than anyone else. I want the judges looking at it and saying, 'That's the best in the world'."

Rhys McClenaghan. ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Although frustrated by the outcome in Glasgow, McClenaghan believes the competition served its purpose as his first major championship since returning from shoulder surgery.

He deliberately increased the difficulty of his routine, accepting there was always a risk that it could cost him a medal in the short term. "You have to test these routines out at some point," he said.

"You're sacrificing a major title, but it happens. Even if I was standing there with a gold medal, I'd still have been saying this was only a stepping stone to something better."

His frustration stemmed less from missing the podium than failing to reproduce the routines he had been performing in training. "It was disappointing not getting a medal, but I'm more disappointed with my performance," he admitted.

"I was capable of more on that day, but now I feel like I'm back in the groove of competing again. If I had done the best routine I possibly could have and came fourth, I wouldn't have been as annoyed."

The experience has also reinforced another lesson heading into the Europeans - the importance of shutting out everything except his own performance.

McClenaghan admitted hearing rivals post scores of 15 or more can inevitably influence his thinking, as was the case in Glasgow. "Straight away you're thinking, 'I've never hit that score before in this code of points'," he said.

"Your competitor is celebrating right beside you. I need to focus more on my own job because watching other people doesn't do anything for me anymore."

Thus he intends to spend as little time as possible around the competition arena outside his own events. "I don't think I'll even watch the team final or the qualification rounds," he said.

"I'll do my job, leave, go back to the hotel room and stay focused on what I'm capable of."

With James Hickey and Eamon Montgomery joining him on World Cup podiums this season, McClenaghan believes Irish gymnastics now has genuine strength across multiple events.

"I'm now sitting here talking about multiple medal chances rather than just myself," he said.

"Eamon and I both had disappointing Commonwealth Games because we're pushing world-class routines. We're not doing this just to make Commonwealth finals - we're doing it to win world titles and Olympic titles."