RHYS MCCLENAGHAN ISN’T changing course because of one disappointing afternoon in Glasgow.

The Olympic champion left last week’s Commonwealth Games without a medal after judges declined to award the difficulty value for his new opening mount, dropping him to sixth place in the pommel horse final.

“It’s kind of just on to the next one,” said McClenaghan ahead of the European Championships in Zagreb, which takes place from 19-23 August.

“Even if I was standing there with a gold medal, I’d still have been saying this was a stepping stone to something better. A better routine, better performance, a better score. You have to test these routines out at some point. You’re sacrificing a major title, but it happens.”

McClenaghan may tweak that opening element before the Europeans but insists he won’t change the routine beyond that. “If I change the entire routine then it would just be panic mode, and I’m not in that place,” he said.

He also knows the judges will now be paying even closer attention. “I need to drastically improve it now because the gymnastics world is small, and the judges that are on that panel at the Commonwealth Games may well be on the panel at the European Championships,” he explained.

“They didn’t even see me perform that mount before that competition. Now they’ve seen me perform it badly with a mistake, and they didn’t give credit to it. They’re going to be looking so closely to see, ‘Is this going to count?’”

It’s an issue made tougher by a recent change to gymnastics’ Code of Points, with judges now instructed not to give gymnasts the benefit of the doubt on borderline skills.

“If they’re in doubt, they don’t give it to the gymnast,” McClenaghan said. “It’s made judging extra harsh, but I’m not sitting going they should have given me it.

“Like, what would I want to see in a gymnast if I was a judge? I want to see flawless, amazing, world-class gymnastics. It’s the same for them, so I need to make sure that I kind of see it through their lens.

“I hate playing the victim to judges. They didn’t give me that skill, and it was on the line. I’m not sitting going like they should have given me it. I should be doing it better than anyone else, and that’s the crux of it.”

More than missing out on a medal, he was disappointed not to reproduce the routines he’d been performing in training. “If I’d done the best routine I possibly could have and came fourth, I wouldn’t have been as annoyed,” he admitted.

McCleneghan in action at the Commonwealth Games. Ewan Bootman / INPHO Ewan Bootman / INPHO / INPHO

In Croatia, he’ll keep his focus as narrow as possible. “I don’t think I’ll even watch the team final or the qualification rounds,” the 27-year-old confided. “I’ll do my job, leave and go back to the hotel room. Focusing on other people doesn’t do anything for me anymore.”

McClenaghan will happily bank the experience gained for what’s to come in Zagreb and beyond on the road to LA 2028. After all, Glasgow was also his first major championship since returning from shoulder surgery.

“I feel more confident now than I did before Commonwealths,” he said. “You can build these competitions up in your mind, but once you’ve gone through it, you realise it’s literally just another pommel routine.”

With James Hickey and Eamon Montgomery also reaching World Cup podiums this season, McClenaghan believes Ireland now has multiple medal contenders.

“We’re looking at worlds and Olympics,” he said. “Eamon is a couple of years younger than me, and I kind of had to say to him, ‘This is what we’re doing here, we’re not doing it to make the Commonwealth Games final, we’re doing it to win world titles and Olympic titles’, and I think that’s so exciting.

“Just the fact that it’s no longer just me sitting here saying I’m wanting to win major medals. It’s multiple people, so I’m excited to see what everyone is hopefully capable of at Euros.”