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| Human Interest | |
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Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He got into gymnastics through a friend. "I wasn't born into gymnastics. There are no grainy home videos of me, aged two, balancing on a bench or jumping off the sofa doing a routine. In fact, it wasn't until I was seven-years-old, and a friend at my local swimming club suggested I try it, that I ever really focused on gymnastics at all." |
| Name of coach | Scott Hann [club, personal], GBR |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He took up the sport at age seven. |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | A minor injury caused him to pull out of the 2023 European Championships in Antalya, Turkiye. (Instagram profile, 06 Apr 2023) A virus meant he had to withdraw from the Great Britain squad for the 2016 European Championships in Bern, Switzerland. (bbc.com, 20 May 2016) He did not compete in the all-around event at the 2015 European Championships in Montpellier, France, because of the effects of low-grade glandular fever. He did participate in the floor exercise and pommel horse events. (SportsDeskOnline, 18 Apr 2015; bbc.co.uk, 15 Apr 2015) |
| Hero / Idol | Japanese artistic gymnast Kohei Uchimura, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. (telegraph.co.uk, 17 Mar 2016; bbc.co.uk, 17 Oct 2014) |
| Awards and honours | He carried the Queen's Baton at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. (insidethegames.biz, 17 Feb 2023) He was named Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [OBE] in the 2022 New Year's Honours list. He had been named Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in 2017. (essexlive.news, 31 Dec 2021; intlgymnast.com, 30 Dec 2016) He was named British Gymnastics Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year for 2019. (echo-news.co.uk, 01 Jan 2020) He received the Prize for Elegance at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (fig-gymnastics.com, 31 Oct 2015) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Other information | RETIREMENT THOUGHTS He took a break from training and considered quitting the sport following the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He won gold on pommel horse in Tokyo but was affected by mental health issues after returning to the UK. "I fell into a place, into this rut where I just lost all motivation for everything. I felt sluggish every single day. I even got a blood test because I was just feeling awful every single day. The blood test come back and I was absolute fine. I think that is what proved to me that it was all in my head. Ten to 20 years down the line if I was explaining my career to Willow [his daughter] and said I have done this and that and then I stopped after Tokyo, I think her next question would probably be why did you stop? And I wouldn't want that to be because I'm scared of failing in Paris [at the 2024 Olympic Games]. Any time off takes you a very, very long time to come back. But I'm excited, like I'm genuinely excited for the challenge. I feel almost refreshed. I feel like I've almost reset everything and I think the fear of failing has gone." (olympics.com, 23 Mar 2023; insidethegames.biz, 17 Feb 2023; bbc.co.uk, 28 Sep 2022) FATHERHOOD He and his wife Leah became parents to their daughter Willow in February 2019. "Willow is definitely my proudest achievement. I wanted to have children young, when I was still doing gymnastics, because I want them to see what I do rather than for them to just hear the stories. Standing out in an arena in the middle of a competition with thousands of people watching - the thought of taking her onto that stage and giving her that experience is amazing. It will 100% spur me on knowing she and Leah are in the crowd." (eurosport.com, 24 Jul 2019; hellomagazine.com, 10 Mar 2019) EARLY DAYS At age 12 his Slovenian coach decided to return to Slovenia. Whitlock had the choice of going with him, or remaining in England and quitting the sport. "I found that I had a choice to make. Follow my coach and move away from my family, or quit gymnastics. I didn't want to stop gymnastics, so in order to continue I moved out to Slovenia to live and train there. That was the decision I made when I was just 12 years old. I think because I was so young, getting one flight there but not knowing when I'd return, was very, very difficult. And not just for me, but for my family as well. But it was the right decision." (myprotein.com, 01 May 2019) OTHER ACTIVITIES He worked as a pundit for the BBC at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. In 2019 he released a health and fitness book called 'The Whitlock Workout: Get Fit and Healthy in Minutes'. In 2018 he and his wife Leah launched Max Whitlock Gymnastics, which has several locations in England. "I want to help kids get a foot in the door in the best sport in the world. Gymnastics has brought me a lot of confidence, it's a sport that can do that for kids. It teaches them about their bodies, and about respect and discipline. And if I can give something back to the community too, that's an amazing feeling." (bbc.co.uk, 28 Sep 2022, 31 Mar 2018; express.co.uk, 02 Jan 2020; thebookseller.com, 08 Aug 2019; hellomagazine.com, 10 Mar 2019) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Wife Leah, daughter Willow [2019] |
General Interest | |
| Famous relatives | His wife Leah has worked as an artistic gymnastics coach at South Essex Gymnastics Club in England. His coach Scott Hann is also his brother-in-law. (theguardian.com, 11 Apr 2018; southessexgym.co.uk, 18 Jul 2017) |
| Ambitions | To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 06 Apr 2023) |
| Milestones | In 2016 he became the first athlete representing Great Britain to win a gold medal in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games when he was victorious in the floor exercise and pommel horse events in Rio de Janeiro. The previous year he had become the first British male to win an artistic gymnastics world title when he triumphed in pommel horse at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (dailymail.co.uk, 15 Aug 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 14 Aug 2016) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "What you love doing, you do more of - and what you do more of, you get better at." (myprotein.com, 01 May 2019) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Successfully defending his Olympic title on pommel horse at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, which was his third Olympic gold medal. (teamgb.com, 01 Aug 2021) |
| Hobbies | Cooking. (thetimes.co.uk, 15 Jul 2022) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | South Essex Gymnastics Club: Basildon, ENG |