By Karen Braun
PARIS (Reuters) – Rhys McClenaghan earned Ireland their first ever Olympic medal in gymnastics when he struck gold on the pommel horse with a smooth performance at the Paris Games on Saturday.
Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan took silver, while Stephen Nedoroscik of the U.S. captured bronze.
McClenaghan closed his eyes and smiled in relief after executing his challenging routine for a score of 15.533 to eclipse Kurbanov by one-tenth of a point. Kurbanov also secured Kazakhstan their first ever Olympic medal in gymnastics.
Nedoroscik will take home his second bronze of the Games after helping the U.S. to a third-place finish in the team event.
Briton Max Whitlock, the twice defending Olympic champion on the apparatus, was edged off the medal podium by 0.1 point, finishing in fourth despite besting his qualification score.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Karen Braun and Rory Carroll, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
