“MAX WHITLOCK has scrapped his retirement plans and targeted a return for Team GB at the LA 2028 Olympics. Britain’s leading male gymnast quit the sport after the Paris 2024 Games where he finished fourth in the pommel horse and fourth in the team event. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Max Whitlock”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
Britain’s leading male gymnast quit the sport after the Paris 2024 Games where he finished fourth in the pommel horse and fourth in the team event.
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Max Whitlock has announced that he is coming out of retirementCredit: Marc Aspland – The Times
The 32-year-old narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2024 OlympicsCredit: Getty Yet the three-time gold medallist – who will be 35 come the next event in California – has unfinished business with the apparatus.
Another key element is that his daughter Willow, 6, will be able to watch him perform at the highest level again.
Whitlock, 32, told The Times: “I was sitting at a train station with my family in a café for a little bit and I said to them: ‘I’m not done, I can’t finish it like that.’
“It was the raw emotion of getting back to the UK and just feeling like I can’t end it like that.
“Something just didn’t feel right. Unfinished is the exact word. My career’s just not complete. It was just really gnawing away at me.
“I thought: ‘It’s the right time for me to retire but it’s not the right way.’
“And that’s something that spooks me if I’m really honest because I was pushing it a bit going into Paris in terms of my age.
“So you can imagine how much I’m pushing it now. It’s a massive challenge.
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“I’m on a mission. I have ten times more motivation compared to the build-up for Paris.”
British Gymnastics officials were thrilled about his decision and are on board with his plan of action, which starts with the English Championships in February.
The Essex-based star is also expected to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next summer.
Whitlock is determined to end his career on a high after narrowly missing out on a medal in Paris.
He continued: “I know I’m setting myself up here for saying only gold will tick the box. But I want to go back in full throttle and just give it a good try.
“I have the opportunity that I can almost basically rewrite the way that my career ended.”
Whitlock has won three Olympic gold medalsCredit: Reuters