Max Whitlock is not used to losing but he insists he will rise to the challenge after watching Rhys McClenaghan walk off with gymnastics gold for the second major championships in a row.

The two-time Olympic champion lost out to McClenaghan on the pommel horse at the Commonwealth Games in April and a mistake in Glasgow cost him another major title here at the European Gymnastics Championships.

The 25-year-old fell off the apparatus midway through his routine, costing him a point, and that proved to be fatal to his chances.

He eventually came seventh while McClenaghan put together a flawless routine to win gold. Like Federer and Nadal, the pair look set for an intriguing battle for years to come.

“I will not obsess about this. I am hoping to do two more Olympic Games and six more years of this sport,” he said.

“I am hoping to do many more major championships and this is just one of them along the way. I have just got to go back, use this as my motivation and then get better.

“It is one of those days again, hopefully there will not be many more of these when I go to a competition and make mistakes.

“I did not make one at the Commonwealths but I was second and here I did make one. The second half of the routine was one of the cleanest I have ever completed so I can be happy with that.

“There are positives. I scored 14 with a mark deduction for the fall. I know what I need to work on, it is just one of those days and one of those mistakes.”

Luckily for Whitlock, he will not have long to stew. The World Championships are just around the corner and the 25-year-old has chance to put some of the doubts that have developed this season to bed.

“I would like to say I was nervous but it was just one of those things. I felt quite calm. I can stand there and put my hands on the handles and sometimes I am really shaking,” he said.

“But today I had the mindset of just going all out and going for it but it did not work.

“I don’t think it was nerves.”

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