Gymnastics

Image source, Sportsfile

Olympic gold medallist Rhys McClenaghan and Ireland team-mate Eamon Montgomery are through to the apparatus finals at the European Championships in Croatia.

McClenaghan put in an impressive routine on Wednesday afternoon, hitting a score of 14.400 which was good enough for fifth in qualifying, with the top eight advancing into the final.

The Newtownards man missed out on a medal at the Commonwealth Games, but enjoyed a good start to his bid for a fourth European title.

Italy's Targhetta Gabriele led the way in qualifying with a score of 15.200, with Armedian pair Khachatryan Mamikon and Manukyan Hamlet second and third, while Latvia's Mickevics Dmitrijs came in fourth.

"My fifth European final secured - looking forward to trying to improve on that score even more on Friday," McClenaghan posted on social media.

Belfast's Montgomery is through to his first European final thanks to his 14.033 score for sixth place on floor, 0.800 behind Dukhno Arsenii in first place.

James Hickey and Oisin O'Connell made their Euuropean senior debuts, while Adam Steele and Daniel Fox returned to international competition as Team Ireland finished 21st overall with a score of 226.496.

Both McClenaghan and Montgomery return for their final on Friday at 17:00 BST.

Image source, PA Media

England gymnast Luke Whitehouse earned his third medal of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with silver on the vault.

The 24-year-old had already picked up a gold on floor and silver in the team event.

He performed two clean, well-controlled vaults to earn his place on the podium with a score of 13.749, but was pipped to gold by Canada's Felix Dolci who later also won the horizontal bar title for his fourth gold of the Games.

"I did think I'd just got it [the gold medal] but another silver to add to my collection, over the moon," Whitehouse told BBC Sport.

Image source, PA Media

There were also medals for England in the women's floor event as Abi Martin and Shantae-Eve Amankwaah won silver and bronze respectively behind Wales' Ruby Evans.

"It's amazing for British gymnastics that we had three of us on the podium – we put so much effort into our landings together and everything in general, so for it to be an all home nations podium shows just how hard we do work and how much we all put in," Martin said.

"It's a big thing for British gymnastics."

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist at the Glasgow International Arena

Image source, Getty Images

Ewan McAteer finished seventh in men's vault final at the Glasgow International Arena.

McAteer, competing at his third Games, scored 12.700 for his first vault and 12.800 for his second.

That gave the 26-year-old a final average score of 12.750.

McAteer, who works part-time as a dentist and finished sixth in Birmingham four years ago, was frustrated he didn't do enough to make the podium.

"If I'm honest, I'm disappointed. My aim today was to do gymnastics to the best of my ability and I don't feel I did that out there. I know I can do the vaults a lot better than that," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I was going for execution and I didn't execute, it's as simple as that. I'm disappointed but I'm very accepting that this is gymnastics and I know I gave everything I could in this preparation and when I was out there. I'm not devastated, but I'm disappointed."

"I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied unless I was third, second or first, I was going for a medal. The order was right, those were the best three vaulters out there."

The final was won by Canada's Felix Dolci, who also won gold in the men’s team final and on the men's rings.

England's Luke Whitehouse claimed silver while Cyprus' Neofytus Kyriakou took bronze.