WHAT I KNOW ABOUT WOMEN
ATHLETE MAX WHITLOCK
MAX WHITLOCK, 27, is a two-time Olympic gold medal gymnast and three times world champion. In the Rio Olympics in 2016 he became a double Olympic champion, winning the floor and pommel titles. He lives with his wife, Leah, 28, and one-year-old daughter, Willow. THEIR SACRIFICE HAS MADE MY SUCCESS
SINCE having our daughter I’ve gained a newfound respect for Leah. As a man you can only do so much. Watching her go through eight hours of labour in hospital was one of the scariest feelings in the world. She was incredible, using hypnobirthing techniques to help cope with the pain.
When Willow was one month old, I had to go away for three weeks for the European Championships in Poland. In the run-up to the competition, she did all the night shifts alone, as sleep and rest were so important to my preparation. She has had a huge impact on my career. Without her I wouldn’t have got the same results.
We met when I was 12 and moved to the same club as her. Leah was a gymnast and then a coach, something she has recently stepped away from to care for our family and to manage our business, Max Whitlock Gymnastics.
We’ve been together for more than ten years and she has helped me through some tough times, including when I got glandular fever in 2015. Despite the Olympics coming around the following year, I had to step back from the sport. I’d sleep well but wake up exhausted.
Usually I train for hours every day, but I came home worn out after 20 minutes. The fatigue was so great, it was getting dangerous as I struggled with even basic parts of a routine. The doctors told me there was nothing I could do but rest. Leah was instrumental in my recovery, helping me stay chilled.
My mother, Madeleine, is another woman to whom I owe a lot. For six years, six days a week from the age of 12 (until I got my driving licence), she took me out of school, drove me the hour to my gymnastics club for 1pm, waited seven hours while I trained, then drove us home again. An incredible sacrifice.
MAX WHITLOCK’S new book, The Whitlock Workout, is out now.