Pommel Final for Hickey at Junior Europeans!

Rimini, Italy; James Hickey competed in the Pommel Horse Qualifications this morning and had a long wait until the end of subdivision 3 this evening to have confirmation that he had secured his spot in the coveted final placing 7th respectively with a score of 13.433 at his first Junior Men's European Championships.

James commented on his performance:

"Speechless, can’t believe it yet, hasn’t set in just looking forward to enjoying finals. Thank you to my mum, dad and family for coming out to support me and giving me the opportunities to get here. Special thank you to Gymnastics Ireland and Phoenix Gymnastics for all the help and support on my journey."

Junior National Coach, Andy Smith said:

"What an accomplishment for James, to come out to Rimini and smash out a PB in his first euros speaks a lot to his character, progress and someone who is starting to realize their true potential, it's another European final for Ireland, and on Saturday we will be ready."

Also commenting on the result, Gymnastics Ireland Performance & Technical Manager Sally Johnson said:

“Exceptional well done to James on his performance on pommel and to his coaches! Congratulations also to the clubs in supporting James’s development and growth in the sport from a young age to both Excel Gymnastics Club and current club, Phoenix Gymnastics!
Proud day for the High Performance program, well done to all!”

Gymnastics Ireland CEO, Ciaran Gallagher added:

"What a result for his debut at a European Championships! Following in the steps of Rhys who qualified yesterday for the senior pommel final, James pulled out a stellar performance to stamp his arrival on the European junior scene placing in the top 8 and taking a coveted place in the junior European pommel final. Huge congratulations to James & his family/friends on this superb achievement, also to our coaches Sergey, Wayne & Andy and his club Phoenix GC! Roll on finals!"

Ireland has secured 3 apparatus finals in the men's competitions over the past two days with Rhys McClenaghan qualifying in 2nd place with a score of 15.133 on pommel while teammate Dominck Cunningham qualified in 8th on Vault with a combined score of 14.150 and Junior James Hickey on the Pommel today.

The Senior Pommel Horse final for McClenaghan will take place on Friday 26th with the Senior Vault final for Cunningham and the Junior Pommel Horse final for Hickey taking place on Saturday 27th.

Stay tuned for more to come!

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