Amhrán na bhFiann was once again played out across a gymnastics stadium as Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan delivered at European level with a gold medal performance in Rimini, Italy on Friday evening.
A two-time world champion in 2021 and 2022, his win gives him a third European Championship to add to his growing list of international titles.
McClenaghan had qualified for the pommel final in second place on a score of 15.133, a number that he felt he could improve on in his final effort. He did just that and more with a final score of 15.300, a number which set him apart from the other eight contestants.
Nobody else in the final field of nine gymnasts earned more than 15 points, leaving McClenaghan out on his own.
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The 24-year-old from county Down was second last to perform after the bar had been set by Loran De Munck from the Netherlands, a silver medalist from the 2022 European Championships, who posted what was the leading score of 14.933 just after the halfway point.
McClenaghan’s main rival from Ukraine, Verniaiev Oleg, who had recently returned from a four-year doping ban in 2020 reduced to two years, dramatically fell off during his routine when his hand slipped on the leather surface of the pommel. That error ensured that he scored well down the field with 14.200 and out of the medals.
Seventh in the Tokyo Olympics games three years ago, when his little finger was misplaced and he fell off the apparatus, McClenaghan has already qualified for Paris this summer, where he will be one of the favourites to medal in his specialist event.
In a flawless routine with a high difficulty factor of 6.5 and an execution level of 8.8, he was smooth and error free. Dismounting and raising his hands in the air, he knew he had scored well as his smiling coach Luke Carson paced across the hall to embrace him in open arms.
The result will set the high performing McClenaghan up with confidence for Paris in July and as one of the athletes to watch out for a podium place.
In boxing at the women’s European Championships in Belgrade, Ireland are involved in two finals, which will take place on Saturday afternoon. Shannon Sweeney goes for the gold medal against Bulgaria’s Zlatislava Chukanova in the second bout of the session, while Aoife O’Rourke boxes Russia’s Anastasiia Shamonova in bout 10. The session will begin at 4pm, Irish time.
Roscommon’s O’Rourke, who is on course to retain her European title after winning her semi-final against Turkey’s Isildar Busra, is also bidding to become a three-time European Champion.
It would be a stunning achievement if O’Rourke could win. The Castlerea fighter won the middleweight title at the 2022 European Championships in Montenegro and was a gold medal winner in the 2019 championships in Spain. On both previous occasions she defeated Poland’s Elżbieta Wójcik.
In Ireland only Katie Taylor has won more than three European championships, when she dominated amateur boxing between 2004 and 2014 and won the European championship for six consecutive years. Defending Olympic champion Kellie Harrington, who was beaten earlier in the week, has previously won gold and bronze at European level.
The St Annes Southpaw Sweeney was in top form for her semifinal win over Armenia’s Anush Grigoryan on Thursday. Dominating the second and third rounds, the judges agreed on a 5-0 decision, 30:27, 30:27, 29:28, 29:28 and 29:28.
A bronze medal winner at these championships in 2022, not only does Sweeney get a chance to fight for gold, but like O’Rourke, her prize money has rocketed up to a guaranteed $10,000 (€9,320). A win over Chukanova would add a further $5,000 (€4,660).
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