These Commonwealth Games have been defined as much by the athletes who stayed away as those who turned up. Rhys McClenaghan could be forgiven for wondering why he bothered.

The Northern Irishman is the only gymnast to have won Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles on a single apparatus, but he didn't even win a medal in a pommel horse final he had seemed a racing certainty to win.

The 27-year-old has made no secret of the fact he'll only defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles if he keeps pushing the sport's boundaries, and said he'll continue to take risks.

He could have won gold here with a standard routine, but that's not the McClenaghan way, as Canada's Jordan Carroll took gold ahead of Scots Reuben Ward and Cameron Lynn.

"It didn't get off to a great start. The judges didn't credit my mount, and that was a new skill I was trying to introduce. When you lose a skill like that, the whole routine falls apart. Even if the rest of the routine had been perfect, it still wouldn't have been enough.

"I need to make it better. I need to make it undeniably good, so the judges don't even have to think about whether to credit it.

"This is a step in the process. Even if I'd won gold today, it still would have been just another step. You can't keep the same routines throughout your entire gymnastics career.

"We'll go back to the gym, probably after a day or two of rest, and tackle it the same way we tackle any training session.

"It is difficult because today is a big occasion. The Commonwealth Games only come around once every four years, and it would be easy to get really down about it. If I'd looked at it that way, I might even have doubted trying that skill in the first place.

"I'm treating it as a stepping stone. This isn't the pinnacle. My goal is to become the best gymnast I can possibly be, not just to perform the best pommel horse routine I can. I believe this had to happen if I'm going to produce my best gymnastics in the future."

Most gymnasts have had to choose between competing here in Glasgow and at next month's European Championships in Croatia. McClenaghan, though, is competing in both.

"When you've fallen in an Olympic final, like I did in Tokyo, that's the worst-case scenario," he added.

"I fall every day in training. I fall in warm-ups. I fell yesterday and the day before. I know how to cope with failure.

"You can blow something like today out of proportion, but at the end of the day it's just another setback. We treat it the same way and try to improve from it."

Luke Whitehouse lived up to his status as favourite in the men's floor to win Team England's first gymnastics gold of the Games.

Whitehouse is a three-time European champion in the discipline and won world silver in Jakarta last year. His difficulty score was a full point clear of his nearest rival and, while elements of his execution need tidying, he was a worthy winner.

However, after watching team-mate Gabriel Langton suffer a horror fall in the team event and then struggling in the all-around competition, where he finished seventh, Whitehouse was just happy to get back to winning ways.

"The last few days have been about regrouping after everything that's happened and then coming out and delivering a good performance," he said.

"I think it's just about taking it step by step. Like I said, you've just got to ignore the noise and everything that's going on around you, and focus on your own individual performances.

"Last night in the all-around final, I had a fall on floor, so I'll be honest, it was playing on my mind a little bit. I came into the arena earlier, I felt good in practice and that settled my nerves.

"I think these performances show that I can compete under pressure. I've put together three solid routines and there's still a little bit more to do, but I'm getting there.

"My confidence has grown over time by producing results. I came in knowing that I am one of the best floor workers in the world, and I deserve to be here."

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