Rhys McClenaghan
Rhys Joshua McClenaghan (born 21 July 1999) is an Irish artistic gymnast competing internationally for both Northern Ireland and Ireland. In 2019, he became the first Irish gymnast to qualify to a world championships final and to also win a medal, taking bronze on pommel horse. In addition to his world medal, McClenaghan is the first Irish gymnast to compete in a European final and also the first to win a European medal. He also competed for Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning the gold medal on the pommel horse. He followed this by winning the  2018 European Championships, pipping the reigning Olympic and two-time world champion, Max Whitlock on both occasions. Biography and career. He was born in County Down, Northern Ireland to his parents Tracy and Danny McClenaghan. He is coached by Luke Carson. When he was still technically a junior, he won the bronze medal in the 2016 British Artistic Gymnastics Championships pommel final behind Olympic medalists Louis Smith and Max Whitlock. McClenaghan also won the first European Championships medal in history for Ireland, winning silver on the pommel horse at the 2016 Junior European Gymnastics Championship. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games  held at the Gold Coast, Australia, McClenaghan won gold on the pommel horse, beating the reigning world and Olympic champion Max 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. At the 2018 European Championships, McClenaghan won the gold medal and became Ireland's first ever European champion. McClenaghan formerly trained at Rathgael Gymnastics Club in Bangor until his coach was made redundant in June 2018. McClenaghan was forced to train in his back garden. He then relocated to Dublin, upon receiving  funding and accommodation from Gymnastics Ireland and Sport Ireland to train in the Sport Ireland Institute in Abbotstown. In October 2019, he won Ireland’s first ever World Championship medal, Bronze on the Pommel Horse, making him the most decorated Irish gymnast of all time. McClenaghan was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to gymnastics. McClenaghan competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he came in 7th place in the men's pommel horse final.