British three-time Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock has announced he will retire from gymnastics after the Paris 2024 Games.
The 31-year-old won the men’s floor and pommel horse events at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and retained his pommel title at the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
“This decision now feels right,” Whitlock, who has also won three world titles, told the BBC.
“Going for my final Olympic Games, it feels very, very strange talking about it and it’s almost hard to articulate what it’s like. It’s a really nice mindset to be in, to think I’ll just give it all I’ve got.”
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Whitlock took his first significant step on the global stage at London 2012, where he won bronze in the men’s team event and took individual bronze on pommel.
He said he was relishing the opportunity to compete at the Olympics in front of his five-year-old daughter, Willow.
“To have the opportunity to do that in front of Willow feels amazing,” he told the PA news agency. “I always said I wanted to continue until she was old enough to watch me in competitions, and I love that she will get that chance in Paris.”
Whitlock’s success has masked periods of struggle and self-doubt.
“I’ve mucked up more times than a lot of people think,” said the gymnast, who missed out on a medal at last year’s world championships in Antwerp, where he came off the apparatus midway through his final routine.
“I’ve been to so many competitions, so many European Championships, where I’ve not been able to achieve what I wanted.”
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His third Olympic gold, in an almost empty Ariake Arena in Tokyo, preceded 18 months of soul-searching, during which he privately struggled with the concept his competitive career was drawing to a close.
“I feel like I’ve learned from the hard stop of the Tokyo experience, when I was adamant that I was never coming back,” said Whitlock.
“A lot of things weren’t really ticking the box. I had nothing to wake up to in the morning and think, ‘I’m going to work hard to try to achieve this’. I’ve said I felt like a waste of space. But it’s different now. I’m equally passionate about the business I’ve set up (creating bespoke gymnastics courses), that creates a massive impact among young children, and the two complement each other because the enthusiasm I get from that is helping me have a really positive outlook in the gym. I know deep inside that Paris 2024 feels like the right time to say, ‘I’m done’. For 24 years I’ve been pushing to do everything I possibly can. I’ve got one final opportunity to grab, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
The Paris Olympics run from July 26 until August 11.
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