Munich 2022 - Cunningham & Fox join McClenaghan, Montgomery & Steele in qualifying for World Championships!

18.08.22 Munich, Germany; The Irish men’s gymnastics team have concluded the 2022 European Championships in Munich today after a great competition that saw Dominick Cunningham & Daniel Fox secured qualification spots for the World Championships later this year. They will join teammates Rhys McClenaghan, Adam Steele and Eamon Montgomery who qualified at the start of 2022 through the World Cup circuit.

Cunningham ranked 25th in All-Around with his best score on Vault of 14.466. This was his international debut as an All-Around gymnast for the Irish team; “…It was very exciting, is the word. I never did the All-Around at a major championships. When you’re starting to retire, you’re meant to ease off but I’m actually doing the opposite. It’s getting harder and I’m enjoying it now. I have started to enjoy gymnastics a lot more. We’re here with a team and I think we can get Gymnastics Ireland to grow and I think that’s what we are here for.” Dominick said about his experience at this event.

Teammates Daniel Fox and Ewan McAteer who also competed in the All-Around event finished in 48th and 55th respectively.

McClenaghan was unlucky to finish as 1st reserve/9th place on pommel with a score of 14.200 narrowly missing the final; “…In the middle of the routine, on the one handle sequence, I had to improvise kind of a lot. That takes quite a lot of endurance out of my muscles. It was a little bit of a struggle from there. I had to focus to try and get from start to finish in that routine. There was another leg split in the routine, so again there was more room for the judges to deduct. I was happy I got through, but it wasn’t my best gymnastics.” said Rhys.

Eamon Montgomery was unlucky in his specialist apparatus Floor counting an uncharacteristic fall on his 2nd tumbling pass, however, he clearly demonstrated his potential as a European finalist for the future. Similarily, Ewan McAteer was unlucky with his 2nd vault touching down after a top level 1st vault that he nailed.

Reflecting on the experience, Gymnastics Ireland’s National Performance Coach Luke Carson said:

"The team did a great job today as a whole. Our all-around era did a really good job and looked great amongst Europe’s best. Our specialists had a rough day with an error from each of them which cost them a final. High difficulty comes with increased risk. We now focus for the upcoming World Cup."

Gymnastics Ireland’s Performance & Technical Manager, Sally Johnson said:

“Incredible team! I am extremely proud of everyone some super performances with much more potential! Well done to Dominick Cunningham and Daniel Fox for qualification to the World Championships where they will join Rhys McClenaghan, Adam Steele & Eamon Montgomery who also qualified earlier in the year from the World Cups! Good luck to Niall tomorrow!.”

Gymnastics Ireland CEO Mr. Ciaran Gallagher added:

“Our senior team demonstrated huge potential for the future today! Rhys was unlucky just to end up in 1st reserve place for pommel final however great news for Dominick & Daniel who join Rhys, Eamon & Adam in qualifying for the Worlds in November! Well done to the entire team including Ewan who really contributed to the team score. Congrats also to our coaches Luke & Conor plus our physio Julianne and judges Colm O’Toole & Adam Doyle!”

Full results are available at https://results.mun.mev.atos.net/ECM2022/en/results/all-sports/competition-schedule.htm

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