By Sarah Curran
CHEERS erupted at a Newtownards gym on Saturday when it was confirmed Olympic gold would be coming home.
Origin Gymnastics, located within the Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex, hosted a watch party as member and local sporting hero Rhys McClenaghan took on the final in the pommel horse competition at the Paris Games on Saturday.
Excited cheers burst from the onlookers after the 25 year-old completed a flawless and impressive routine, but tension set back in as they waited for the two remaining athletes to compete and receive scores.
With a score of 15.533, it soon became clear, after each of the following gymnasts completed their routines, that Rhys would be claiming gold for Team Ireland and returning to his hometown an Olympic champion.
As Rhys was awarded his medal on the podium at Bercy Arena, he erupted into tears and many of those at his home gym felt the same sentiment.
Origin senior coach Conor McGovern confirmed the gold to cheers of approval from those gathered in the local gym, waving banners of support.
The coach who has travelled to competitions with Rhys before said the golden achievement ‘speaks as a testament’ to the ‘hard word’ Rhys puts in daily.
He told PA news agency: “100% everyone here believed in Rhys. It’s not to say we knew for a fact, no-one knows, but we had the highest belief in him.
“Hosting this event was so worth it, the smiles on everyone’s faces, so glad.
“It’s not a surprise, him being a double world champion. He’s well on his way to becoming one of the best pommel workers of all time.”
The great news has resulted in a huge rush of interest in joining the local club, Mr Govern added.
“The amount of people even looking in the windows as they walk past, kids coming in, even interactions I have had walking to the cafe, people wishing Rhys good luck. That just means so much,” he said.
“Rhys has built a community. There are a lot of people here today, and I think Rhys has had a conversation with every one of them at some stage. His sense of community is second to none.
“We want this to be a community that is unlike anything else, and I think that we are well on our way to doing that. This event today with people screaming his name shows that.
“We want to spread that joy that I get from gymnastics, that Rhys gets from gymnastics and all our staff.”
