"It was because it was the first time I heard somebody call me a world champion. Something just switched in my head where I just burst into tears and I couldn't get one word out.
It just shows how much this means to means to me. It’s a childhood dream come true."Rhys McClenaghan's emotions got the better of him after he made the breakthrough to win the gold medal in the pommel horse at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool last year.A year on, and the Irish Olympian has the chance to do it all again in Antwerp on Saturday with the final live on the RTÉ Player from 12.45pm.The Newtownards native qualified for 2023's championship culmination with a score of 14.933 last weekend which was enough to place him third overall behind Great Britain's Max Whitlock and USA's Khoi Young who amassed 15.266 and 15.066 respectively.Whitlock - a winner of Olympic golds in the pommel horse at Rio 2016 and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, along with world titles in 2015, 2017 and 2019 - comes with an impressive pedigree which means McClenaghan will have a real battle on his hands.The 30-year-old Whitlock, who is six years McClenaghan's senior, sat out last year's world championships and McClenaghan took the opportunity to clinch his first world gold.But Saturday offers an opportunity to not only to achieve a successful defence but also to overcome one of the modern greats.Aside from the success in Liverpool last year, McClenaghan has plenty of experience behind him, this being his sixth championships and the third time he has reached the final.The first time he got to the final it was 2019 in Stuttgart and he claimed bronze with an impressive score of 15.400, which was just 0.100 off Whitlock's gold medal score.So expect a