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Max Whitlock

Most decorated British gymnast, Olympic and world champion on pommel horse.

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Max Antony Whitlock is an English artistic gymnast born on 13 January 1993 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.[1][2] He is the most successful gymnast in British history with fourteen Olympic and World Championship medals and six titles.[1] In Olympic competition on the pommel horse, Whitlock has earned two gold medals and one bronze, making him the most decorated athlete on that apparatus in the history of the Games.[1]

Key facts and history

At age twelve, he followed his coach Klemen Bedenik to Maribor, Slovenia, for three months before returning to train at South Essex Gymnastics Club in Basildon under his brother-in-law Scott Hann.[2] Whitlock was a member of the Great Britain team at the 2012 Summer Olympics; that squad earned a bronze medal, which was the first Olympic team medal for British men since 1912.[3] In the all-around final at the 2014 World Championships, Whitlock earned the silver medal, finishing behind the reigning Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura.[4] Whitlock made history at the 2015 World Championships by winning the gold medal on pommel horse, the first such World Championship gold ever achieved by a British man.[5]

During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Whitlock secured a bronze medal in the all-around, then within a two-hour span won gold on floor exercise and gold on pommel horse, making him the first British gymnast ever to win an individual Olympic gold.[6][7] After the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where he placed fourth in the pommel horse final, Whitlock announced his retirement from the sport.[8]

What the cited sources add

The same article stated that Whitlock also won bronze on pommel horse at those European Championships, repeating his achievement from London 2012.[9] A Bleacher Report recap of the 2013 World Championships noted that Whitlock tied for the silver medal on pommel horse with Mexico's Daniel Corral Barron after missing out on a medal in the all-around competition.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunston, "Max Whitlock on coming full circle at the same arena he made his Worlds debut a decade ago", Olympic Channel, 4 October 2023; Clargo, "Olympics 2020: Max Whitlock defends pommel horse title", ESPN, 1 August 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Artistic Gymnastics - Whitlock Max", Tokyo 2020 Olympics; "Max Whitlock", BBC, 2015; "Max Whitlock MBE", Team England; "Max Whitlock MBE", Team England; Briggs, "Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock reveals the lengths he'll go in pursuit of excellence", The Daily Telegraph, 28 July 2016; "Artistic Gymnastics - Whitlock Max", Tokyo 2020 Olympics; Hull, "'Fully focused' Max is raring to go as journey continues on the Road to Rio", Hemeltoday, 2 February 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Adams, "Gymnastics raises roof as Louis Smith's team make history", The Guardian, 30 July 2012; Williams, "Olympic gymnastics: bronze for GB as Japan win silver on appeal", BBC News, 30 July 2012; Aldred, "London 2012 Olympics: Team GB bronze gymnastics medallist Max Whitlock becomes poster boy", The Telegraph, 5 August 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hope, "World Gymnastics: Britain's Max Whitlock endures 'tough' day", BBC Sport, 3 October 2014; Hope, "World Gymnastics: GB men finish fourth in team final", BBC Sport, 7 October 2014; Hope, Nick, "World Gymnastics: Max Whitlock to replace Nile Wilson in all-around", BBC Sport, 8 October 2014; "World Championship silver for Max Whitlock", British Gymnastics, 9 October 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Max Whitlock wins gold at World Gymnastics Championships", BBC Sport, 31 October 2015; "Max Whitlock pips Louis Smith to world gymnastics gold medal in Glasgow", The Guardian, 31 October 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McDaid, "Rio 2016: Max Whitlock and Louis Smith in GB gymnastics team", BBC Sport, 12 July 2016; Quarrell, "Rio 2016 Olympics: Great Britain's gymnasts finish with agonising fourth place in men's team final", Eurosport, 8 August 2016; John, "Kohei Uchimura retains gold at Rio 2016 as Max Whitlock claims bronze", The Guardian, 10 August 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rio Olympics: Usain Bolt wins; GB golds for Whitlock, Murray, Rose & Kenny", BBC Sport, 15 August 2016; "Rio Olympics 2016: Max Whitlock wins second gold", BBC Sport, 14 August 2016; "Simone Biles wins again as Max Whitlock earns Great Britain's first ever gymnastics golds", Rio 2016; "A wedding and the Worlds, Whitlock wants to make 2017 as big as 2016", Team GB, 1 February 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Max Whitlock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Max Whitlock OBE to bring Olympic gymnastics journey to an end", www.british-gymnastics.org; "Max Whitlock to retire after Paris 2024 Olympics", BBC Sport, 10 April 2024; "And your Team GB Paris 2024 gymnasts are...", British Gymnastics, June 13, 2024; "GB gymnasts fourth as Japan snatch men's team gold", BBC Sport, 29 July 2024; "'Relief' for history-chasing Whitlock at Olympics", BBC Sport, 27 July 2024; "McClenaghan wins gold as Whitlock misses out in final event", BBC Sport, 3 August 2024; "Max Whitlock's next mission: Changing gymnas en.wikipedia.org
  9. "GB's Daniel Keatings and Max Whitlock win European gymnastics gold", The Guardian, 20 April 2013. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  10. Johnson, "Gymnastics World Championships Results 2013: Recap of Saturday's Action", Bleacher Report, 5 October 2013. facts only, no text reused. bleacherreport.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Max Whitlock (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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