- British gymnast Max Whitlock has announced that the Paris Games will be his last
- The 31-year-old said it felt like the ‘right’ decision to end his glittering career
Three-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock has announced he will retire after this summer’s Games.
The 31-year-old will go for gold on the pommel horse in Paris, where he could become the first gymnast to win four Olympic medals on the same apparatus.
However, that will now be the final performance of a glittering career that has already seen 32 major international medals, including six at the Olympic Games, making him easily Britain’s most successful gymnast of all time.
“This decision feels right now,” Whitlock said. ‘Heading to my last Olympic Games it feels very, very strange to talk about it and it’s almost hard to put into words what it’s like. But it’s a really nice mentality to think that I’m just going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Whitlock made his Olympic debut at London 2012, winning bronze on the pommel horse and in the team event. In Rio 2016 he became Britain’s first individual Olympic champion when he won gold on both floor and pommel, before also claiming bronze in the all-around event.
British gymnast Max Whitlock has announced his retirement after the 2024 Paris Olympics
The 31-year-old is a three-time Olympic champion and Britain’s most decorated gymnast
Whitlock will go for gold again in Paris and try to become the first gymnast to win four Olympic medals on the same apparatus
The South Essex athlete retained his pommel horse title at Tokyo 2020 before taking an 18-month break from the sport to focus on his mental health.
After thinking about retirement at the time, Whitlock returned to gymnastics early last year.
He will compete in the European Championships in Italy at the end of this month before Great Britain selects its squad for Paris in June.
Whitlock, who has five-year-old daughter Willow, told the BBC: ‘Since Rio, where I was at my peak, I think I’ve been asked questions about when I’m going to retire.
Whitlock, who has a five-year-old daughter, said he felt he had proven people wrong in his career
“I have often wanted to prove people wrong throughout my journey and I have always had the mentality of trying to do this for as long as possible.
‘Now I have given myself the opportunity for Willow to come and watch the Olympics, because that was not possible in Tokyo. That’s such a good feeling for me.
“When I’m competing in arenas, Willow waits until it gets quiet and she calls me and we do it with a double thumbs up. I think I would really like to do that during the Olympic Games in Paris.’