Rhys Clenaghan comes up short at World Championships

The 19-year-old revealed that a shoulder injury had hampered his event preparations in the run up to the games.

“As a result I’d done maybe three full routines in training, as opposed to almost 100 routines before the Commonwealths and Europeans,” he said.

“And to be honest pulling out did cross my mind.”

“But is important to come here and keep focused on Olympic qualification”.”

A disappointed McClenaghan - who suffered the shoulder injury a week and a half ago - finished with a score of 11.066 which will be nowhere near enough to earn a place in the finals.

“I’ve been through a lot of tough things this year so I’m happy to come out with two major titles under my belt. Despite what happened here, I’ll walk away from 2018 a very happy guy.

“And I will regroup and comeback as strongly as I can in the coming months,” he said.