Gymnasts to watch for the Pommel Horse Apparatus Final
(Source: Danny Lawson/PA)
All apparatuses pose inherent challenges for anticipation, but the Pommel Horse stands out as notably intricate. The leading contenders for this event are Max Whitlock, OBE, and Rhys McClenaghan, BEM. Max has already secured two Olympic gold medals and holds the title of three-time World Champion in this discipline, while Rhys is a back-to-back World and European Champion. Their total scores regularly exceed 15.000, and their difficulty scores range between 6.5 and 7.0.
Four out of the 8 finalists in the Pommel Horse final in Tokyo are returning: Max, Rhys, Kazuma Kaya, and Sun Wei. Also returning are 4 finalists from the Pommel Horse final at the 2023 World Championships: Rhys, Max, Ahmad Abu Al-Soud, and Nils Dunkel. Additionally, numerous specialists could present formidable challenges in the Pommel Horse final in Paris. The competition to secure a spot for the Olympics Artistic Gymnastics has been exceptionally rigorous: several strong specialists couldn’t win a spot, such as Lee Chih-kai, Benjamin Osberger, Shiao Yu-Jan, Matvei Petrov, Filip Ude, Harutyun Merdinyan, Vedant Sawant, and Cyril Tomasone.
In alphabetical order:
Ahmad Abu Al Soud – Jordan 🇯🇴
2022 World Silver Medalist; 2023 World Bronze Medalist
Zachary Clay – Canada 🇨🇦
2023 PanAm Games Champion; 2024 Pacific Rim Silver Medalist
Nils Dunkel – Germany 🇩🇪
2022 Euros Bronze Medalist
Marios Georgiou – Cyprus 🇨🇾
2024 Euros Bronze Medalist
Matteo Giubellini – Switzerland 🇨🇭
2024 Euros 4th place
Kaya Kazuma – Japan 🇯🇵
2020 Olympics Bronze Medalist; 2021 World Silver Medalist
Illia Kovtun – Ukraine 🇺🇦
2020 European Champion; 2024 Koper Challenge Cup Champion
Nariman Kurbanov – Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
2023 & 2024 Asian Champion
Rhys McClenaghan BEM – Ireland 🇮🇪
2022 & 2023 World Champion; 2018, 2023 and 2024 European Champion
Loran de Munck – Netherlands 🇳🇱
2022 & 2024 Euros Silver Medalist
Stephen Nedoroscick – USA 🇺🇸
2021 World Champion
Sugino Takaaki – Japan 🇯🇵
2024 NHK Trophy Champion
Max Whitlock, OBE – Great Britain 🇬🇧
2016 & 2020 Olympic Champion; 2015, 2017 and 2019 World Champion
Zou Jingyuan – China 🇨🇳
2024 Chinese Nationals Champion with a 9.000 E score
Basic info on Pommel Horse
The Pommel horse is an apparatus used in artistic gymnastics, consisting of a leather-covered form 1.6 meters long, 34 to 36 cm wide, and approximately 115 cm in height from the floor, supported at its center. It features curved wooden pommels (handholds) 12 cm high, positioned 40 to 45 cm apart at the top of the horse.
This apparatus has historical roots, originating from a wooden horse used by the Romans for teaching mounting and dismounting, later incorporated into the ancient Olympic Games. The foundational modern exercises associated with the Pommel horse were established in the early 19th century by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the founder of the German turnverein.
Main Pommel Horse specialists:
Boris Schaklin (URS), Miroslav Cerar (YUG), Zoltán Magyar (HUN) and Max Whitlock are two-time Olympic Champions.
Miroslav Cerar (YUG), Zoltán Magyar (HUN), Pae Gil-Su (PRK), Marius Urzică (ROM), Xiao Qin (CHN), Krisztián Berki (HUN) and Max Whitlock are thre-time World Champions.
More info:
All male gymnasts qualified for Paris
Official info about Men’s Artistic Gymnastics in Paris
History of Pommel Horse
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