Max Whitlock on creating his own path
Paving the way forward on his own terms has always been Max Whitlock’s way since he emerged as a spiky-haired 19-year-old London 2012.
Winning two Olympic bronze medals – in the men’s team and pommel horse, at the Olympic Games at home as a teenager, was the best way to start his Olympic journey.
In Rio 2016, the long-awaited gold medal on pommel horse was preceded by a first place in the floor exercise, while bronze in the all-around competition marked a three-medal win for the young Briton.
Tokyo 2020 in 2021 saw the defense of his pommel title, while Paris 2024 was a chance to make Olympic history as the first gymnast to claim four medals on the same apparatus.
After qualifying for the finals in third place, that moment was all too possible. Yet these are the minuscule moments that have a huge impact in the sport, when a small error in the equipment meant that all he and Hann could do was wait and hope as six more gymnasts competed after him in the eight-gymnast final.
“All we could do was just sit there and watch other competitors, and I got pushed further down. It was just a tough moment where me and Scott just sat there and watched it happen.”
With media interviews immediately following that disappointment, plus immediate retirement after almost a quarter of a century in the sport, it’s no wonder Whitlock was emotional.
But it is an exuberant Whitlock Olympics.com speaking 16 months later as he expects competitive returns early next year.
The English Championships at the end of February, followed by the British Championships from March 19 to 22, are listed as the first potential league fixtures for Whitlock. A first international competition could take place at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow or the European Championships in Croatia in July and August respectively, followed by the World Championships in Rotterdam in October.
Whitlock is aware that there is also an increasingly strong British men’s team, which he wants to rejoin in January, but with all his experience he knows how to plan a route to success.
“Since that first day in the gym, I was like, ‘Okay, I have a mission, I have a goal now, let’s work from that, let’s build a plan and build everything around it. So yeah, I’m pretty strategic with that.’
#Exclusive #Max #Whitlock #leave #ready