Max Whitlock, the most successful English gymnast in history, announced that Paris 2024 will be his fourth and last Olympic Games, in which he will seek to add a new medal to his successful career.
Whitlock, 31, won six Olympic medals and three were gold medals in his three participations: in Rio de Janeiro 2016 he won the floor and pommel horse events, in which he repeated the title in Tokyo 2020.
“It’s strange to think and say, but I’ve decided that Paris 2024 will be my fourth and last Olympic Games. I was convinced that I had finished gymnastics after Tokyo. I almost allowed the fear of failure to dictate my path and I quit gymnastics completely (he spent 18 months away from the sport). Now, when I returned, I have given myself the opportunity to reach four Olympic Games and a great source of motivation for me is to retain that title,” said the Briton.
“My Olympic experience has been incredible,” said the three-time world champion and explained that “one of the best things is that I have been able to inspire and encourage others to play sports, parents tell me that their son started doing gymnastics because they saw me on television. I want to continue to have that impact and give children the best opportunities through sports.”
Whitlock’s debut at the Olympic Games was in London 2012, where he won two bronze medals (teams and pommel horse), while the sixth was won by finishing third in the Rio 2016 All Around (Great Britain won a medal in the full competition after 108 years).
“I used to avoid thinking about winning medals and just focus on my work, but it’s actually very difficult to do so, so now I’m trying to change that mentality and use it as a new source of motivation for the first time,” explained the Hertfordshire native.
The most successful British gymnast in history will have an extra incentive and it will be that his five-year-old daughter Willow will be able to watch him compete. “Now I was given the opportunity for her to come and see some Olympic Games because she couldn’t in Tokyo (due to the Covid-19 pandemic there were no spectators). It’s a really good feeling for me.”
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