“Olympic champion is feeling rusty at the Commonwealth Games.”

It was the words of 800m freestyle Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen, but they equally could have come from or been applied to fellow Olympic champion on the pommel horse Rhys McClenaghan.

It was meant to be a magical Monday for Team Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, with both Olympic champions in action.

The expectation was they could be the two, who were among the headline names of the young squad sent to these Games given their previous winning pedigree, that would bring NI’s first two gold medals in Glasgow.

It was more mediocre than magic though as both struggled in their favourite events, so much so they didn’t even make it on the podium, with McClenaghan sixth in the pommel horse final and Wiffen fourth in the 800m decider.

McClenaghan was a master of his own downfall, starting slow with his new routine and finishing even worse, but he was not too downcast by his performance and wanted to focus instead on how it was a step towards a bigger goal with the next Olympics two years away.

He said that while the routine obviously “didn’t go to plan” it was “another stepping stone to what’s to come” on his journey back to the ultimate pinnacle of retaining Olympic gold.

Wiffen too is building for two year’s time, but was much more self-critical, stating that he “didn’t know what was going on” with himself as he was outclassed by the strong Australian trio of Sam Short, Benjamin Goedemans and Matthew Galea.

“They [the Australians] have come to play and I haven’t to be honest. I thought I would at least be a 7:42 time coming into this [he swam 7:48.82] and honestly I just felt a bit rusty coming into this.

“I did try to push it but I just felt my stroke was all over the place.”

It is easy to draw parallels between the two that stretch beyond their status as Olympic gold medallists and now unfortunately go into their adjacent struggles.

They were both operating at the very peak of their powers at the end of the last Olympic cycle in 2024 which helped to yield golds for both in Paris.

Then injuries struck and hit hard last year.

McClenaghan opted to go for surgery on a troublesome shoulder problem that kept him out of action the entirety of 2025.

The Commonwealth Games are his first major event since Paris almost two years ago.

Wiffen suffered from appendicitis in June which had lasting effects that led him to pull out of the Worlds in July last year.

While he won gold in the 1500m in the Europeans, he was third in the 800m in Lubin.

Both are now in the position of having to use 2026 to rebuild and a medal of any colour in their favourite events would no doubt have strengthened both their feelings that they were on the way back to the very top.

McClenaghan had a simple solution to his issues, going back to the gym to “progress even more” with the Europeans to come in August and the Worlds in October.

Wiffen may need to do some further self-examination to find the cure to his ails, with the “nerves” he spoke about post-race obviously not being used as fuel for good performances as he felt he was “not handling them well”.

While McClenaghan will have to wait until next month to write the wrongs of his display in the Glasgow International Arena, Wiffen has a chance to bounce back quickly and in style with a medal in the 1500m final on Wednesday.

His previous silver in the Commonwealth Games came in that event four years ago and a repeat at Tollcross Swimming Centre later this week would be a major confidence boost before the Europeans in two week’s time.

“I’m going to learn from this, normally when I have a bad couple of swims the 1500m brings a brighter side out of it so we will see how it goes on Wednesday.

“I hope I can go into it with a positive mindset and see what happens. I’ll hopefully come back with a medal then I will be happy.”

“The main goal is the gold in LA so we’re working towards that.”