WHITLOCK Max

General
AMBASSADOR
In February 2021 he was announced as an ambassador for the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, England. (thegymter.net, 09 Feb 2021)

BOOK
In 2019 he released his own health and fitness book called 'The Whitlock Workout: Get Fit and Healthy in Minutes'. (express.co.uk, 02 Jan 2020; thebookseller.com, 08 Aug 2019)

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. Going into Tokyo and being a dad, it's actually chilled me out more. That doesn't take away from the sport, but I think it enhances it." (eurosport.com, 24 Jul 2019; hellomagazine.com, 10 Mar 2019)

CHANGING ATTITUDE
He became the first British artistic gymnast to win gold at the Olympic Games in 2016, and has found going into the cycle for the 2020 Games as champion has introduced new challenges. "I've gone from being the underdog and chasing something to being at the tipping point to now actually having it and trying to retain it. The pressure's going to be massive in Tokyo. Now bringing back gold is the only real success, and I'm striving for that ultimately. I've always tried not to think about winning but it's hard not to." (thetimes.co.uk, 24 Jul 2019; thetimes.co.uk, 14 Apr 2019; standard.co.uk,10 Apr 2019)

EARLY DAYS
At age 12 he faced what he calls one of the biggest decisions of his career when his Slovenian coach decided to return to his hometown. Whitlock had the choice of going with him to Slovenia, 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)

CLUB
He and his wife Leah have set up the Max Whitlock Gymnastics Club, which has locations in Colchester and Southend in England, which they launched in 2018 with the intention of engaging one million children in gymnastic activities by 2022. "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." (express.co.uk, 02 Jan 2020; hellomagazine.com, 10 Mar 2019; bbc.co.uk, 31 Mar 2018)

In 2016 he became the first person representing Great Britain to win a gold medal in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games when he was victorious in both 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)