SOCIAL STAR RHYS AIMS TO SHOW HE’S NO JOKER

RHYS McCLENAGHAN has developed a reputation as a social media star after bouncing into the Olympic Village with his gymnastics team-mates. On Sunday, he energetically debunked media rumours concerning the so-called ‘anti-sex’ cardboard beds in the village, but the 21-year-old’s focus would not have taken long to shift back towards the challenge of Max Whitlock, who he pipped to Commonwealth and European golds in 2018. The pair are complete oppostites, with McClenaghan (right) posting a series of popular tweets showing life inside the Village. For Whitlock, he seldom even references any of his rivals by name and purports never to take an interest in their particular routines. However, as he puts the finishing touches to his quest to hold off the Down man and claim his second consecutive Olympic pommel crown, Whitlock acknowledged McClenaghan’s status as a bona-fide threat to his dominance of the discipline. Whitlock joked: ‘We are heading into the Village tomorrow (Tuesday) and we will see what the cardboard beds are like – I heard Rhys put something up there that was quite good. ‘He’s more vocal and I like to keep my head down and I don’t go on social media much,’ he continued, insisting the rivalry is one borne out of mutual respect for each other’s ability. ‘I don’t know what routines anybody else is doing and I’m just thinking about my job. ‘It’s not a one-on-one situation. We’re all going out there to do as good a job as possible. We respect each other and hopefully everyone can go out there and do an important job.’ Despite both missing out on a medal on their return to competition at the European Championships earlier this year, Whitlock and McClenaghan remain the men to beat on the pommel in Tokyo.