LAST UPDATE | 3 Aug

IRISH GYMNAST RHYS McClenaghan has won a gold medal in the pommel horse final.

He scored a massive 15.533 to make history and claim gold. 

McClenaghan is the first Irish gymnast to win a medal at the Olympic Games.

The Co Down athlete is a decorated gymnast and scooped back-to-back gold in the pommel horse at the 2022 and 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

In the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago, McClenaghan came off the pommel horse and this fault put him in seventh place.

However, he more than made up for that by taking gold in today’s final in the Bercy Arena at the Paris Games.

Rhys McClenaghan reacts after competing in the Men's Pommel Horse Final on the eighth day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Some 65 gymnasts took part in the qualification round for the pommel horse last week and only eight advanced to today’s final, with McClenaghan qualifying in joint first place.

He said afterwards that he would wear this as a “badge of honour” into today’s showpiece.

Speaking to the BBC after scooping gold, McClenaghan described the final as a “dream come true”.

He added that it fulfills a plan that was devised when he was just 14. 

“We set a long term plan at the age of 14 and my coach met with my mom and said, ‘you know, this kid could be the best in the world on the pommel horse’.

“And that plan developed and it came to fruition today.”

He also said he was “incredibly proud to make all of the Irish fans proud and to create history for the country” and that it was the “comeback I needed after Tokyo”.

“I want to go back into the gym right now and work on the improvements but my coach won’t let me probably, but that’s okay,” said McClenaghan.

“I think he’s right in this situation; we need to celebrate our Olympic title.”

McClenaghan performing in his pommel horse final. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Taoiseach Simon Harris meanwhile said “our hearts pumped while watching Rhys McClenaghan’s mesmerising performance”.

“Your determination and precision have been top class and you are so deserving of this gold medal,” he added.

Harris also said McClenaghan’s “journey to this Olympic medal has been nothing short of incredible” and that “we are all so proud of you”.

This latest medal is Ireland’s third gold and sixth medal overall in Paris 2024, an impressive haul for Team Ireland already.