Which apparatus did Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan win at Paris 2024?

Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan won the men’s pommel horse at Paris 2024.

McClenaghan scored 15.533 in the final on 3 August 2024, earning Olympic gold. His routine required continuous circular and travelling actions around the apparatus, with his hands supporting his body while his legs moved in extended swings. The event demands exceptional shoulder strength, rhythm, balance and precision because a single break in motion or contact with the horse can cause a major deduction.

The pommel horse is one of men’s artistic gymnastics’ six Olympic apparatus events, alongside floor exercise, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Despite its name, the apparatus is not an equestrian object: it is a padded body with two handles, or pommels, mounted on legs.

McClenaghan had already become a leading specialist before Paris, winning consecutive world titles in 2022 and 2023. His victory made him Ireland’s first Olympic gymnastics champion and delivered the country’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics. The result also came after he finished seventh in the event at Tokyo 2020.