Whitlock out to 'create history' at Paris Olympics

7 months ago 74

Max Whitlock on the pommel horse at the 2016 Rio Games

Six-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock has also won three world titles, four European titles and four Commonwealth golds

Venue: Antwerp, Belgium Date: 30 September to 8 October
Coverage: Watch live coverage on BBC One, Two, Three, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website

Max Whitlock is focused on "creating history" at the 2024 Paris Olympics after an extended break left him feeling like "a waste of space".

The three-time Olympic pommel horse champion was "done" with gymnastics after Tokyo 2020, but will make his World Championships return on Saturday.

Whitlock hopes to be the first gymnast to win a medal on the same apparatus at four consecutive Games in Paris.

The 30-year-old Briton says "making history" brings "a sense of purpose".

"I always tried to not think about medalling and just about my job, my routine and doing as good as I can," Whitlock told BBC Sport.

"Of course I still have that, but now there's a big part of me that thinks about retaining titles."

Whitlock won two gold medals in Tokyo in 2021 to add to the gold and bronze he won at the 2016 Rio Games and two bronzes clinched at London 2012.

And if he can win a fourth Olympic medal on the pommel horse in Paris, he will make gymnastics history.

"There's a huge sense of achievement but also a real push of motivation," he added.

"There's no doubt that I'd love to go to these competitions and be in a position to retain those titles. I wouldn't be continuing if I wasn't in that position."

Whitlock will start his World Championships campaign with men's team and individual apparatus qualification on Saturday.

'I couldn't see where I was going'

Whitlock missed the home Commonwealth Games in 2022

Whitlock, who took 18 months off after retaining his pommel horse title at the Tokyo Games, said he felt he had "no sense of purpose" without the sport.

He returned at the beginning of 2023, before being forced to pull out of April's European Championships because of injury.

Whitlock said retaining his title in Tokyo was "amazing for a short period of time" as he felt "a full sense of contentment" for retirement.

However, the sense of "freedom" was short-lived.

"Then suddenly it hit me like a tonne of bricks," he said.

"It didn't matter that I had just won Olympic gold, what mattered was looking forward and I couldn't see where I was going."

Whitlock said it left him feeling "like a complete waste of space" and "struggling mentally".

He recalled his family questioning his decision to retire and him "not wanting to hear it".

But it was his four-year-old daughter, Willow, who inspired Whitlock to reassess his reasoning behind stopping.

"What crept into my mind about retirement was the fear of failing moving forwards," he said.

"When I sat down and reflected on stopping gymnastics because of the fear of failure, then it's not really retiring - it's quitting.

"Do I really want to relay that message on to her? Obviously I don't."

A golden return

Whitlock marked his return to international competition in September by claiming pommel horse gold at the Apparatus World Cup in Paris.

"It feels amazing to be back with the team. It's been a while but I can't wait. It's an honour to go and represent GB again," he said before the World Championships.

"I feel like I've come back this time with a different mindset, in a really positive way."

Great Britain go to Belgium as the only nation to have qualified for the Paris Olympics in both the men's and women's team events.

In addition to Whitlock, the men's World Championships team consists of James Hall, Jake Jarman, Courtney Tulloch and Harry Hepworth.

Whitlock is now focused on what that group can do in Antwerp, saying: "Paris right now is a long-term goal and almost sitting at the back of my mind, but it's there.

"The short-term goals of the World Championships are the key focus at the minute, and I think it has to be. Each step at a time."