Rhys McClenaghan

Rhys McClenaghan looks pretty good when he’s testing out his bed in the Olympic Village. But the Irish gymnast looks even better wearing gold!

The social media sensation and gay favorite captured pommel horse gold this past weekend in Paris, performing a flawless 41-second routine. He edged Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov by just 0.100 for the dramatic victory

“[Ten]-year plan complete,” McClenaghan posted on Instagram, thanking his studly coach, Luke Carson.

In a subsequent interview, Carson said the two identified winning an Olympic medal as the ultimate milestone when they started working together 10 years ago.

“What everyone is witnessing is a genuine dream come true,” Carson told an Irish publication. “Rhys and I spoke about this in 2014… there were milestones along the way and this has ticked the last one off.”

At just 25 years old, McClenaghan doesn’t plan to stop at Paris, either. Following his gold medal triumph, he was overheard yelling “LA! LA!” at Team USA’s pommel horse king, Stephen Nedoroscik, who won bronze. (LA is hosting the 2028 Summer Games.)

McClenaghan first arrived on our gay radars three years ago, when he posted a video disproving the notion that Tokyo organizers provided athletes with flimsy beds to discourage physical intimacy. Though organizers said the cardboard beds were created for sustainability purposes, the conspiracies kept flying.

That is, until McClenaghan repeatedly jumped up and down on his bed, proving it could withstand impact.

He performed a similar test this year, incorporating handstands and belly flops. “They once again have these cardboard ‘anti-sex’ beds. When I tested them last time, they withstood my testing. Maybe I wasn’t rigorous enough,” he said.

After putting his bed through several seconds of sustained impact, McClenaghan announced his findings thusly.

“Nope, they pass the test! It’s fake! Fake News!,” he announced.

After finishing seventh in the Tokyo final, McClenaghan won the last two World Gymnastics Championship, setting himself up for Olympic gold. The delicious gymnast is the fourth person from Northern Ireland to medal at this year’s Games.

While McClenaghan’s perseverance is inspiring, he really wins us over with his whimsical ways. He runs an excellent YouTube channel, where he shows off his good looks (often shirtless) and excellent video editing skills.

We can’t wait for his gold medal retrospective… we know it’s coming!

With the Olympics entering their third and final week, we’ve salivated over many thirst traps. They range from the expected (Tyler Downs, British divers and French swimmer Florent Manaudou), to the dark horses (pummel horse king Stephen Nedoroscik) to the obscure (marksman Choe Dae-han and his villainous posture).

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But there is a special, endearing quality to McClenaghan that puts him at the top of our list. Look at his adorable face… and those pits. He’s giving us musky, Troye Sivan vibes.

The LA Games may be four years away, but thanks to the wonders of social media, we can follow McClenaghan, and the rest of our Olympic crushes, every day of the week.

Good thing they don’t hand out a gold in Instagram stalking. The competition would be fierce! 😉

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