The responsibility of being South Africa’ s only male gymnast at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, wasn’ t lost on Daniel Mclean. Knowing that he wasn’ t competing as an individual but representing his country made it even more significant.
Three months shy of his 21st birthday, Daniel describes it as an incredible experience.
“ Walking into that environment made me realise how big the opportunity was. At the same time, once competition started, I had to remind myself that I was there because I had earned my place. I’ m not going to lie, I really do wish we were able to send a team because I would’ ve loved that team dynamic and support.”
Mclean qualified for the floor exercise final and finished fifth with a score of 12.933, something he says he will always be proud of.
“ Obviously, as an athlete, you always want more. Finishing fifth means I was very close to the podium, so naturally there is a part of me that thinks about what I could have done differently.
“ But when I take a step back, I realise how significant the achievement was. I was competing at my first Commonwealth Games … and I made a floor final against some of the best gymnasts.”
Rather than dwelling on the medal that got away, Mclean sees the result as a measure of where he belongs and the motivation to go further.
“ I don’ t want to look at fifth place as‘ I just missed a medal.’ I want to look at it as‘ I’ m fifth in the Commonwealth, and now I know what I need to do to move even higher.’ That experience has made me hungry for more.”
This competitive drive was rewarded in April this year when Mclean won his first senior international individual gold medal at the African Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Cameroon.
“ I remember coming off the floor and knowing that I had done what I needed to do. Then there was that wait to see where I would finish. When I realised that I had won, there was a mixture of excitement, relief and honestly just disbelief.
“ You spend so much time training for moments like that. You sacrifice a lot, you have difficult days, you question yourself sometimes, and then suddenly you get this moment where all of that work feels worthwhile.”
The seed for wanting more was planted more than 15 years ago when Daniel was around five years old, watching his older sister, Phoebe, at a trial lesson.
“ I remember watching her and immediately wanting to do whatever she was doing. At that age, I don’ t think I understood what gymnastics really was or how far it could take me. I just thought it looked fun and exciting, and because I wanted to do everything my sister did, I wanted to try it too.
“ Looking back, I think that enjoyment was really important because it gave me a strong foundation. I fell in love with the sport before I ever understood the competitive side of it.”
Daniel says his family has been a pillar of strength since he started competing.
“ My sister was the reason I started, but as it became more serious, my whole family became part of the journey. They’ ve helped keep me grounded. Gymnastics can become your whole world, especially when you’ re training at a high level, so having people around you who know you as a person rather than just as a gymnast is incredibly important. A lot of what I’ ve achieved isn’ t something I can take credit for on my own.”
Daniel admits that the mental side of gymnastics remains one of his biggest challenges.
“ Physically, gymnastics is obviously extremely demanding, but your body can only do what your mind allows it to do. You can train a skill hundreds or even thousands of times, but when you walk into a competition, you have one opportunity to perform it correctly.”
Learning to deal with the inevitable bad days has become part of becoming a better gymnast.
“ There are going to be bad training sessions, mistakes, injuries, frustrating competitions and days where things just don’ t click. For me, the challenge is learning how to respond to those days rather than allowing them to define me.”
The influence of coaches Kevin Basson and Derick Scholtz stretches way beyond gymnastics, says Daniel.
“ One of the biggest things they’ ve taught me is that you can’ t make excuses. There are always going to be things that don’ t go your way, but you have to focus on what you can control. There are days where training doesn’ t go well, where you’ re frustrated or where you doubt yourself. A lot of the person I’ ve become through gymnastics has been shaped by the lessons they’ ve taught me.”
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With Glasgow behind him, Daniel’ s focus is now on the next challenge – the 2027 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Chengdu, China, and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA. When he’ s not training or competing, the University of Johannesburg BCom Logistics and Transport Management student is also juggling his studies, adding another dimension to an already demanding schedule.
“ The World Championships are a huge goal because they’ ll be an important part of the Olympic qualification journey. So between now and then, I need to keep improving my routines, increasing my difficulty where appropriate, becoming more consistent and gaining more international experience.
“ The goal is LA 2028, but the work starts every day. It’ s the early mornings, the difficult training sessions, the mistakes, the recovery, the studying, the travelling and getting back into the gym the next day.
“ I’ m not expecting the Olympics to happen for me. I’ m working towards making it happen. I want to know that when I get there, I’ ve done everything I possibly could to be ready.
“ I genuinely love this sport and that’ s what keeps me going.” www. modernathlete. co. za 23