Legendary British gymnast Max Whitlock has confirmed that he will retire following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Whitlock, 31, has won three Olympic gold medals and has a total of 32 major international medals, making him Britain’s most successful gymnast.
Whitlock explained later in an interview with the BBC that he always wanted to compete at an Olympics where his daughter Willow could watch him in the arena, as she wasn’t allowed at the Covid-19-impacted Tokyo games in 2021.
He did explain, speaking on BBC Breakfast, that he’s had a lot of questions about when he might step away but 2024 seems right.
“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.
“Ever since Rio where I was at my peak age, I think I’ve had questions thrown at me about when am I retiring.
“I’ve wanted to prove people wrong a lot of the way through my journey and I’ve always had the mindset of trying to do this for as long as I possibly can.
“Now I’ve given myself the opportunity for Willow to come and watch an Olympic Games because she couldn’t in Tokyo. That’s such a good feeling for me,” he said.
“When I’m in arenas competing, Willow waits for it to go quiet and she calls for me and we do this double thumbs-up, I think I’d love to do that in the Paris Olympics.”
Whitlock will be gunning for a fourth Olympic medal on the same apparatus, on the pommel horse, having already won two golds and a bronze. Should he achieve that feat he will become the first gymnast in history to do so.