Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan will lead a seven-strong Irish team into the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam tomorrow.
The championships run from October 17 to 25, bringing together the world’s leading gymnasts for nine days of competition, with McClenaghan once again the headline Irish contender on pommel horse.
Team confidence is high after a series of international podium finishes and an increasingly competitive elite group.
McClenaghan is a double World Champion, winning gold in Liverpool in 2022 and Antwerp in 2023 before adding Olympic gold in Paris, and he is returning to peak form after shoulder surgery in 2025.
His preparations have faced challenges. He finished sixth at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and seventh in the European Championship pommel horse final in Zagreb in August, where he scored 14.166.
In an interview with Sport for Business ahead of those European Championships, McClenaghan said he was determined to introduce more difficult routines, even at the expense of immediate results, believing raising his technical ceiling was essential to challenging for further world and Olympic honours.
Rotterdam provides another important test of that longer-term approach.
However, the Irish challenge has considerably more to it than the country’s most decorated gymnast.
Eamon Montgomery has established himself as another genuine international contender on floor, winning silver at the Antalya World Cup in March before reaching his first European Championship final in August, where he finished seventh.
James Hickey has also enjoyed an impressive breakthrough year. A bronze medal at the Antalya World Cup was followed by fifth place in the pommel horse final at the Osijek World Cup in Croatia. He later made his senior European Championship debut in Zagreb, scoring an all-around total of 75.365.
Adam Steele, who scored 74.298 in the all-around competition at those European Championships, and Chester Enriquez complete the five-strong men’s representation.
Emma Slevin and Mimi Moloney will also represent Ireland in the women’s competition.
Slevin is an established international competitor and former Irish senior all-around champion who has also competed at NCAA level in the United States. Both she and Moloney secured their World Championships places through their performances at the European Championships in August.
Coaches Sergey Sizhanov, Conor McGovern, Sandra Stevenson and Chris Muras will support the Irish team. Denis Donoghue and Mairead Kavanagh will serve as judges, with Stevenson also acting as Head of Delegation.
Sport for Business Perspective
The challenge facing every sport that enjoys a breakthrough Olympic moment is converting the accompanying attention into something more lasting. Greater awareness must translate into opportunities for participation, coaching capacity, club development, investment, and commercial support.
Gymnastics is particularly well placed in this regard because of its appeal to children and young people and its role in developing fundamental movement skills that transfer across many other sports.
Gymnastics Ireland already runs participation initiatives, including GymSTART, its National Series, and GymABLE, providing established pathways that can translate increased visibility into activity.
Irish Competition Schedule
The men’s qualification competition begins tomorrow, Saturday, October 17, between 9 am and 1 pm Irish time.
Slevin and Moloney begin the women’s challenge on Monday, October 19, between 8.10 pm and 9.30 pm.
The men’s all-around final takes place on Thursday, October 22, followed by the women’s equivalent on Friday, both starting at 6.30 pm.
McClenaghan will target a place in Saturday’s pommel horse final, scheduled in the afternoon session from 1 pm to 5 pm, alongside the men’s floor and rings and the women’s vault and uneven bars.
The remaining apparatus finals take place on Sunday, October 25.
Eurovision Sport will stream the championships live, with live scoring available through World Gymnastics.
Gymnastics Ireland is a full member of Sport for Business.
If you would like to join the Sport for Business community and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the daily conversation around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.
Image Credit: Gymnastics Ireland and Sportsfile
ABOUT SPORT FOR BUSINESS
Sport for Business is Ireland’s leading platform focused on the commercial, strategic and societal impact of sport. It connects decision-makers across governing bodies, clubs, brands, agencies, and public institutions through high-quality content, events, and insights.
Sport for Business explores how sport drives economic value, participation, inclusion and national identity, and how your story can be part of ours.
Through analysis, storytelling and convening the sector, it helps leaders understand trends, share best practices, and make better-informed decisions. It positions sport not just as entertainment but as a vital contributor to Ireland’s social and economic fabric.
Find out more about becoming a member today.
Or sign up for our Daily Sport for Business Snapshot email bulletins to get a flavour of the material we cover.
Sign up for our News Bulletins here.
