Rhys out as injury hits bid
RHYS MCCLENAGHAN revealed a shoulder injury had hampered his chances of completing a golden triple of major titles this year after crashing out of the World Gymnastics Championships in Doha.
The 19-year-old Irish star toppled from the pommel midway through qualifying, scoring a lowly 11.066 which is nowhere near enough to earn a place in the final next week.
While it proved a disappointing twist after his previous gold medals at both the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships, Newtownards man Mcclenaghan stressed the importance of continuing to focus on the bigger picture. He said: “I had a shoulder injury one and half weeks ago and as a result I’d done maybe three full routines in training, as opposed to almost 100 routines before the Commonwealths and Europeans.
“That just led to a bit of a negative mindset and pulling out did cross my mind but I think it was important to come here and keep focused on Olympic qualification.
“I’ve been through a lot of tough things this year so I’m happy to come out with two major titles. Despite what happened here, I’ll walk away from 2018 a very happy guy.”
Meanwhile, Briton Max Whitlock returned to his best with a 14.966 pommel performance that suggests an unprecedented third consecutive world title is within his grasp.