Irish Men Join Women In Progressing To Next Gymnastics Rio Qualifier

The Irish Men have successfully progressed through to the next stage of 2016 Olympic Games qualification from the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow.

This fantastic result comes off the back of the Irish women achieving the same through Ellis O'Reilly's standout performance, this time in the form of an impressive outing from 2012 Olympian Kieran Behan who posted an 82.564, just ahead of Andy Smith with 82.231 and 18 year old Jack Neill who hit 76.232.

Speaking from Glasgow, Sally Filmer, Performance & Technical Manager said: 'The performances from both the Women and the Men mean we have hit our target to proceed with 1 male and 1 female position for the 2016 Rio Test Event, it will be there in April we hope to solidify our qualification to 2016 Olympic Games. I could not be prouder of our entire team of gymnasts, coaches and support staff in preparing for and delivering this result'.

'This has been a great weekend for Gymnastics Ireland in Glasgow, the gymnasts have delivered and kept alive the realistic target of achieving not only Irelands 2nd qualified male gymnast to an Olympic Games but Irelands first female gymnast at an Olympic Games. Since 2012 we have invested significantly in the development of our High Performance system, this investment is yielding clear results, I congratulate & wish all the gymnasts, coaches and support staff all the best as the focus now shifts to the Rio Test Event in April 2016' said Ciaran Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Gymnastics Ireland.