Rhys McClenaghan has won gold at the FIG World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool.Newtownards native McClenaghan was third to go, with the two previous competitors - Loran De Munck [Netherlands] and Ryosuke Doi [Japan] - both experiencing slips.That, coupled with McClenaghan's clean and impressive routine, unsurprisingly saw him move into first place with a score of 15.300.The County Down man was awarded 8.200 for execution and in a routine deemed 6.200 for difficulty, setting a high target for the rest of the field.Next up was American heavyweight Stephen Nedoroscik, but the former world champion struggled with his handling and was only able to move into second.Nariman Kurbanov also experienced a malfunction in his routine, ruling him out of gold contention.It was enough for second place, but he was quickly moved out of the silver position by Jordan's Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had a brilliant run.The experienced Filip Ude of Croatia was second last, and he redid his ending to ensure the judges got a clean look at his dismount, but he was well down the field when the scores came out.Armenia's Harutyun Merdinyan was last out and he had a very clean routine to claim bronze.An emotional McClenaghan tried to sum up his achievement afterwards, however, he was unable to speak in his post-routine interview after becoming Ireland's first world champion in gymnastics.It's World Championships gold for Rhys McClenaghan!