Rhys McClenaghan: ‘Gold medal is as much for my family as for me’

The family of Co Down gymnast Rhys McClenaghan have told of how they “knew this day would come” after he won gold at the Paris Olympics.

The Newtownards athlete completed on Saturday what is considered a gymnastics’ Grand Slam - World, European, Commonwealth and Olympic golds.

Speaking after her son stood on the winner’s podium to collect his gold medal, his mother Tracy said it was “the only one that was missing from his medal collection”.

The 25-year-old gymnast clinched gold for Team Ireland with his outstanding routine in the pommel horse final at the Bercy Arena.

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It came three years after he fell from the apparatus, when he was favoured to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

He said he had slept with the medal on his bedside table.

“It’s so heavy and so sharp I was scared I was going to wake up with injuries,” he said on Sunday.

“It stayed on my bedside table and I was happy to wake up and see it.

“You’ve just seen the redemption story of Rhys McClenaghan there.

“The upset in Tokyo, straight after that Olympic Games final where I fell, I said I am going to turn this disappointment into motivation and come back better, stronger than ever and that is exactly what I done.

“I am a two-time world champion, now an Olympic champion and that is the redemption I wanted.”

He also paid tribute to his parents, Danny and Tracy, who were in Paris to watch his victory.

“I only started getting funding for this sport when I turned 18-years-old.” he said.

“I started gymnastics at six years old, that gap between there, that is all my parents, that is them driving me to and from the gym, paying my gymnastics fees, everything they supported and wanted me to pursue that dream that I had.

“This medal is just as much theirs as it is mine.”

But for his mother, she said they also knew he would achieve gold medal success.

“It does sound ridiculous, but I mean, we knew this day would come and we are just absolutely delighted that it’s today,” Tracy told the Irish Examiner.

“We’re so happy. It’s the only one that was missing from his medal collection, so he’s got the whole set now.

“So he if wants to retire now, I’d be quite happy with that. He has put us through enough and I’m not sure my nerves can take any more.

“But honestly we are so proud.

“We are so proud of Rhys, we are so proud of Luke his coach and the whole team at Gymnastics Ireland and Sport Ireland for supporting him because they say that it takes a village to raise a child.

“Quite honestly it takes a whole country to raise an Olympic champion.”

In Newtownards on Saturday, supporters gathered to watch the Olympics final at the gym where he trains.

The cheers when the gymnast completed his routine were followed by an anxious wait for the remaining athletes to compete.

And as it was announced Rhys was taking home the gold medal - Ireland’s first ever gymnastics medal - the crowd at Origin Gymnastics erupted in celebration.

Determined to inspire others, Rhys said he plans to bring his Olympic medal to every gymnastics club in Ireland, with his mum Tracy adding that the “most important thing to Rhys is to pass it on to the next generation”.

“He wants the next generation to be better than he is and to achieve even more than he does,” she added.

“Hopefully he will be part of that as well.”