Tokyo 2020 - Team GB’s defending champion Max Whitlock into Tokyo 2020 pommel horse final

ByRichard Newman

Updated 24/07/2021 at 13:58 GMT

Britain’s first and only Olympic gymnastics champion is safely through to the final of the pommel horse, an event he won at Rio 2016. Whitlock eased through with a score of 14.900, but former European champion Rhys McClenaghan, who competes for Ireland over Team GB, set the standard with a score of 15.266. Britain also qualified for the team final, while Joe Fraser and James Fraser progressed.

Team GB’s double Olympic gymnastics champion Max Whitlock eased into the final of the pommel horse at Tokyo 2020 on a solid day for Britain’s men in qualification.

He started the defence of his title with a solid score of 14.900, some way down on his winning mark of 15.966 at Rio 2016, but with scope to improve his difficulty level next Sunday (August 1).

Northern Ireland’s former European champion Rhys McClenaghan, who competes for the Republic of Ireland at the Olympics, scored an impressive 12.266 to set the standard.

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Team GB qualified for Monday’s team final, with Whitlock contributing in the pommel, parallel bars and horizontal bar, having placed fourth overall after two subdivisions had finished their rotation, with Joe Fraser, Giarnni Regini-Moran and James Hall adding to the overall scores.

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Fraser, who is Britain’s world champion in the parallel bars, reached the final of the discipline having scored a decent 15.400, while he also progressed to the individual all-round, as did James Hall.

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Elsewhere, Japanese legend Kohei Uchimura, regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, ended his career in disappointment. The three-time Olympic champion, who is retiring, fell in qualifying for the horizontal bar when he looked to be easing through his routine.

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