Rhys McClenaghan nimmt das, was da um seinen Hals hängt, in die Hände, blickt konzentriert auf die eine, dann die andere Seite seiner Goldmedaille. Der irische Olympiasieger im Pauschenpferdturnen wirkt, als versuche er etwas zu entziffern. Erkennt er auf der Rückseite die griechische Siegesgöttin Nike, die Akropolis und den Eiffelturm, oder denkt er gerade an etwas ganz anderes?
Man weiß es nicht. Er beugt sich fragend zu dem neben ihm sitzenden Stephen Nedoroscik, der die bronzene Variante um den Hals hat. Beide haben für eine lange Weile die Medaille des anderen in der Hand, drehen und wenden sie und kichern.
Mehrere angeborene Augenkrankheiten
„Ich habe geweint, weil ich in dem Moment wusste, dass ich meine Sache gut gemacht habe“, sagt Rhys McClenaghan über seinen emotionalen Ausbruch im Anschluss an die eigene Übung: „Es war die Erleichterung.“ Direkt nach McClenaghan ging Nedoroscik ans Gerät. „Das hat mich schon Nerven gekostet, dir zuzugucken“, sagt der aktuelle Weltmeister über den von 2021. Der US-Amerikaner blinzelt und grinst breit.
Nedoroscik kann kein helles Licht ertragen. Er hat mehrere angeborene Augenkrankheiten, unter anderem produzieren seine Augen zwei Bilder, die sich im Kopf nicht zu einem vereinen. Er hat gelernt, auf ein Bild zu fokussieren. Autofahren darf er dennoch nicht, Pferdturnen geht. Seine Brille hängt er meist am Magnesiumtopf, zwei Meter neben dem Gerät, auf.
Nedoroscik has often explained that he doesn’t need to see anything during the exercise. The two obviously like each other, and next to McClenaghan sits silver medalist Nariman Kurbanov from Kazakhstan. McClenaghan also praises his performance at length and, in his enthusiasm, dares to say: “That was the best pommel horse final in the history of gymnastics.”
The horse is perhaps the strangest of the men’s gymnastic equipment. Originally a wooden animal substitute for practicing getting on and off in ancient times, it became an element of courtly entertainment and aristocratic education in the Renaissance, long before Father of Gymnastics Jahn integrated it into his exercise equipment. Today’s equipment is more like a small pony: a good meter high, one and a half meters long and only 35 centimeters wide; the exercises hardly remind one of getting on and off.
The fascination of pommel horse gymnastics is not apparent at first glance. There is no moment of flying – as in horizontal bar gymnastics –, there is no moment of acrobatic sensation – as in floor gymnastics – and there is also no moment in which – as in rings – the sheer strength of holding your own body in certain positions is the fascination.
You have to see it. The world’s best on this device are mostly specialists; they train day after day, always on this device. This is how a very special relationship can develop between the horse and the athlete.
Shortly before leaving the arena, McClenaghan goes to the horse again and gently strokes the beige surface. At home in the Northern Irish town of Newtonards near Belfast, his horses have names. The training device for the Paris preparation is called “Kaylia”, after Kaylia Nemour, whose gymnastics McClenaghan particularly likes.
Pommel horse specialists are often strange characters. Stephen Nedoroscik is a prime example of this. The 25-year-old graduate of Pennsylvania State University has a degree in electrical engineering, specializing in robotics. And he sticks to his rituals strictly. On the morning before the final, that meant: “Six apple slices, a chocolate muffin and a few rounds of the Rubik’s Cube.”
His record is under nine seconds, and he posted a performance from the Paris gym. It’s his way of spending time, he says: “There’s something meditative about it, I just can’t put too much pressure on myself to always do it under ten seconds, then it stresses me out.” It went well on the morning of the final, which Nedoroscik interpreted as a positive sign.
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