Rhys McClenaghan believes there's room for improvement after securing European gold medal

​The Newtownards native scored 14.666 in his routine to see off Belgium's Maxime Gentges (14.566) and Armenia's Artur Davtyan (14.266).

It’s the second European triumph for 23-year-old McClenaghan, who won the same event in Glasgow (2018) before adding a World Championship gold to his ever-growing medal collection last year in Liverpool.

"There's pressure every time I compete,” he told BBC Sport. “I put the same pressure on myself in every routine I do, whether that be in training or at these major internationals.

"I had an anxious wait there and I don't like anxious waits!

"I know what I need to improve on.

"I need to glue those legs together and not make those mistakes and make sure I come out on top in even better fashion than I did today.

"There were mistakes in that routine but the consistency is there.

"There are no major errors or falls off the pommel. I've not fallen off the pommel this entire year.

"I'm happy with the consistency and happy that there's more work to be done."

The next major international event for McClenaghan will be October’s World Championships in Antwerp, where he’s aiming to retain his pommel horse title in a competition which also acts as an Olympic qualifier.

McClenaghan, who claimed a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, has mastered being able to deal with the pressure of expectation, which he says comes from putting himself in similar situations during hours of training.

"I kind of put all the pressure on my shoulders and not let the outside pressure get to me,” he added. “Even the routines I do in training I put pressure on myself so it's quite identical when it comes to competitions like this.

"I rely on the numbers I've done in training - it's just another routine.

"That's what my coach tells me before the routine and that's exactly what it is."