| Rhys McClenaghan MBE BEM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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_-_DSC_0401.jpg) McClenaghan in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Rhys Joshua McClenaghan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1999-07-21)21 July 1999 (age 26) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Ireland, Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Origin Gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Headcoach(es) | Luke Carson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Formercoach(es) | Vladimir Shchegelov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rhys Joshua McClenaghan (born 21 July 1999) is an artistic gymnast fromNorthern Ireland who competes internationally both for Ireland and Northern Ireland. McClenaghan is widely recognised as one of the bestpommel horse specialists of his generation.[3]
He is the 2024 pommel horseOlympic champion and the first gymnast to win an Olympic medal for Ireland. McClenaghan is also a double world champion on the pommel horse, having won gold in2022 and2023. He is the first Irish artistic gymnast to win world championship gold, having also been the first Irish gymnast to win a world medal with bronze in 2019.[1] He is a three-time European champion representing Ireland (2018,2023,2024) and aCommonwealth Games champion representing Northern Ireland.[4] McClenaghan was the first Irish gymnast to compete in a European final and also the first to win any European medal.[5] He is the only gymnast to become Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion on a single apparatus.
McClenaghan was namedRTÉ's Sportsperson of the Year for 2023.[6] Along with dance partnerLaura Nolan he won the8th series ofDancing with the Stars in March 2025.[7]
He missed all gymnastic competitions in 2025 due to injury.
McClenaghan was born inNewtownards,County Down, to Tracy, a nursery school teacher, and Danny McClenaghan, a builder.[8][9] He has an older brother, Elliot.[9]
By age six, he already displayed a precocious aptitude for gymnastics and started training at Rathgael Gymnastics Club inBangor.[10] McClenaghan later attendedRegent House School in Newtownards.[11] He has been coached by close friend Luke Carson for many years.[12][13][14]
As an athlete from Northern Ireland, McClenaghan is eligible to compete for either Great Britain or Ireland in international competition, and for Northern Ireland at theCommonwealth Games only.[9] Though he competed in the British gymnastics system as a youth, he opted to compete for Ireland in international competition, saying, "Gymnastics Ireland supported me the most, and that’s what made me go that route."[9]
While still technically a junior, he won the bronze medal in the2016 British Artistic Gymnastics Championships pommel horse final behind Olympic medalistsLouis Smith andMax Whitlock.[15][16] McClenaghan also won Ireland's first European Championships medal, earning silver on the pommel horse at the2016 Junior European Gymnastics Championship.[17]
At the2018 Commonwealth Games held at theGold Coast,Australia, McClenaghan won gold on thepommel horse, beating reigning world and Olympic champion 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.[18][19] At the2018 European Championships, McClenaghan won the gold medal and became Ireland's first-ever European champion.[20][5]
After his coach, Luke Carson, was made redundant by the Rathgael club in June 2018, McClenaghan was forced to train in his back garden for a short period.[21] He then relocated to Dublin during the week,[22] upon receiving funding and accommodation from Gymnastics Ireland andSport Ireland to train in the Sport Ireland Institute inAbbotstown.[23]
In October 2019, he won Ireland's firstWorld Championship medal, bronze on the pommel horse, making him the most decorated Irish gymnast of all time.[24]
McClenaghan was awarded theBritish Empire Medal (BEM) in the2021 New Year Honours for services to gymnastics.[25]
McClenaghan competed in theTokyo 2020 Olympics, where he came in seventh place in themen's pommel horse final.[26]
_-_DSC_0194.jpg)
In 2022 McClenaghan, along with fellow gymnasts Eamon Montgomery and Ewan McAteer, was banned from competing for Northern Ireland at the2022 Commonwealth Games by theInternational Gymnastics Federation (FIG) as he had previously competed internationally for Ireland.[27] The FIG suggested the trio should renounce their Irish nationality on their gymnastics licences, or that theCommonwealth Games Federation remove the relevant event from that summer's Games programme. The decision was met with backlash from politicians including SirBrandon Lewis,Deirdre Hargey andLeo Varadkar, as well as from Commonwealth Games NI, which accused the FIG of "completely disregarding" theGood Friday Agreement, which recognised the right of Northern Irish people to be both British and Irish (McClenaghan had competed regularly at both the British and the Irish national championships.).[28] The trio were ultimately given special dispensation by the FIG allowing them to compete in Birmingham.[29]
McClenaghan resumed training in his home town of Newtownards when Carson opened a new gym in spring 2023.[22]
At the2024 Summer Olympics, McClenaghan won the gold medal in thepommel horse, with a score of 15.533.[30] It was the first-ever Olympic gymnastics medal for Ireland.[31][32]
McClenaghan was unable to compete at all in 2025 due to injury and shoulder surgery undertaken in June of that year; he missed both the European and World Championships.[33][34][35]
McClenaghan was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2026 New Year Honours for services to gymnastics.[36][37][38]
In January 2026, he was awarded the freedom of the Borough ofArds and North Down.[39][40]
He competed inseries 8 ofDancing with the Stars alongside professional dance partnerLaura Nolan. On 16 March 2025 the pair were announced as winners of the show.[41]
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redmond | Byrne | Barry | Gourounlian | ||||
| 1 | Salsa / ''Head & Heart'' | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Tango / ''Tanguera'' | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | |
| 3 | Cha-cha-cha / ''Treasure'' | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 30 | Safe |
| 4 | Charleston /Spider-Man | 9 | 10 | [42] | 10 | 29/30 | Safe |
| 5 | Jive / ''Gold Dust'' | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 | No Elimination |
| 6 | Quickstep / ''Fairytale'' | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Safe |
| 7 | Rumba / ''Love Me Like You Do'' | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | Safe |
| 8 | Contemporary Ballroom / ''Bitter Sweet Symphony'' | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Safe |
| 9 | American Smooth / ''Wagon Wheel'' | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Safe |
| Team Freestyle / ''Timber'' | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | ||
| 10 | Paso Doble / ''O Fortuna'' | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 45 | Safe |
| Scare-a-thon / ''Time Wrap'' | 5 | ||||||
| Final | Charleston /Spider-Man | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | Winners |
| Showdance / ''Beautiful Things'' | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | ||
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