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An emotional Max Whitlock held back the tears after he was unable to sign off his decorated gymnastics career with a fourth consecutive Olympics medal – as Rhys McClenaghan won Ireland’s first ever gymnastics gold in a high-level pommel horse final.
Whitlock had confirmed before the Olympics that Paris would be his final Games, having reversed his decision to retire after Tokyo. The 31-year-old was bidding to win a third consecutive gold on the apparatus he had dominated since Rio 2016, to add to his bronze won at London 2012.
But McClenaghan, the two-time world champion from Northern Ireland, won a sensational gold, with Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov taking silver and America’s Stephen Nedoroscik – aka “Pommel Horse Guy” – knocking Whitlock off the podium to win bronze.
Whitlock struggled to put the disappointment of finishing fourth at his final Olympics into words as he reflected on his career. He retires as Britain’s greatest ever male gymnast, having also won gold on the floor at Rio and a historic all-around team bronze with Team GB at London 2012 when he was 19.
“It’s so raw, it’s tricky,” he said. “It was my final one and I didn’t want it to finish that way. Of course I would have liked to finish the chapter a bit better but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t my day today. It was a very strong pommel final with amazing routines from everybody. But that’s me done in the sport, that’s my last routine.
“I think I will need more time – I’ve never reflected on my career before. I’m proud to say I’ve done gymnastics at this level for so long. When you take it back to London 2012, as a 19-year-old I dreamt of winning an Olympic medal and I didn’t know how possible it was. To think I’m standing here with six, I’m very happy.”
Whitlock knew the competition in the final would be fierce. He was bidding to become just the sixth athlete in Olympics history to win gold in the same event at three consecutive Olympics but in McClenaghan and Nedoroscik he faced two former world champions on the pommel horse, with McClenaghan winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.
The Northern Irishman had finished seventh on his Olympics debut three years ago after falling within 10 seconds of his routine, but the 25-year-old had become Ireland’s first world champion at gymnastics since Tokyo and set the highest score in qualifying on Saturday. There were just 0.034 points to separate them coming into the final.
But the picture quickly changed when Kurbanov went first and set an imposing score of 15.434 on the first attempt of the night. While Whitlock increased his difficulty from qualifying, his execution was not perfect and 15.200 ruled him out of gold medal contention. He was surpassed by both McClenaghan – winning gold with 15.533 – and Nedoroscik, claiming the final place on the podium with with 15.300.
“I was kicking myself watching everyone else going up after me,” Whitlock said. “I was a little bit gutted. There were a few errors that I wish I could clean up but it is what it is. I wish I could go back and do it again but that’s the savage part of our sport – you get one chance and one chance only.”
Nedoroscik’s decisive contribution to the USA’s bronze medal in the team all-around final had resulted in him becoming a viral meme as “Pommel Horse Guy” – he was named on the USA team despite not performing on any other apparatus, but his performance on the final rotation secured their first medal in 16 years in the men’s competition.
Earlier, Jake Jarman won Great Britain’s first artistic gymnastics medal of Paris in the floor final, claiming an impressive bronze after Luke Whitehouse was unable to knock his teammate off the podium.
Jarman set the highest score on the floor in qualifying and during the all-around final, but Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines claimed gold with a 15.000 and Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat took silver with 14.966.
Jarman loaded his floor routine with difficulty but his execution was not perfect, taking a step to his right after his opening run and three-and-a-half twists. He finished just short of gold and silver with 14.933.
“I’m lost for words to be honest. This medal means everything to me. I’ve had a lot of people in my life that helped me to get where I am today,” he said. “Honestly, I couldn’t be happier
“I said to myself: just do the best you can. Especially after seeing there were two ridiculously high scores up first. I knew it was going to be insanely hard. I just wanted to enjoy it, do the best I can. Whatever happens, happens. I did that and it worked, so I can’t be any more proud of myself."
Simone Biles landed her signature “Biles II” on the vault to win a third gold medal of Paris 2024 and seventh Olympic title. The American added to individual and team all-around medals with her first apparatus title of the Games.
Biles had performed the Yurchenko double pike in qualifying, becoming the first woman to complete it at the Olympics. The move involved a round-off back handspring onto the table with two backward flips in pike position and it scored Biles a huge 15.700.
It took the pressure off her second attempt with Biles electing for a safer move, and her combined score of 15.300 was comfortable enough to win gold ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Team USA teammate Jade Carey.
