Golden boy Max turns on the style to dazzle Glasgow crowd
A SIGN on the wall of British Gymnastics headquarters in Lilleshall, repeated frequently in team meetings and discussions, reads ‘Style with Confidence’. In taking a historic first-ever men’s gold at the World Championships in Glasgow yesterday, Max Whitlock displayed the first attribute in spades.
Results over the past nine days suggest that the entire squad can look forward to Rio 2016 with no shortage of hope and expectation.
Whitlock, 22, claimed silver in the floor exercise with a score of 15.566 and it was no disgrace that he came off second-best to Japan’s Kenzo Shirai, who leapt and tumbled to his second title in three years. Returning for the pommel horse, the Englishman was the last to take his turn, with team-mate Louis Smith poised loftily at the top of the standings.
‘I knew I had to focus on my job because I knew Louis would do his,’ declared Whitlock. With both men executing to near perfection, the complexity of the routines proved the difference with a mark of 16.133 securing an unprecedented victory.
‘After my floor routine my legs felt a bit like jelly,’ the champion revealed. ‘It’s been a long week. I think I’ve done 20 routines. But it has been well worth it.
‘To pull it off at the end is amazing.’
That it was a British 1-2 was further proof of the immense strides made during the past decade.
Dan Purvis, Scotland’s torchbearer at these championships, signed off with fifth place on the floor as a minor slip cost him a potential bronze. The 24-year-old will now refocus and reimagine his routines before plotting a course for the Olympics.
‘It’s a tough team to get into,’ said Purvis. ‘There are only five going to Rio, so it’s going to be a big battle next year. It’s a case of hitting my routines like I’ve been doing, trying a few things, and trying to get into the team. And then see from there what the pressure will be.’
Nile Wilson will round off GB’s challenge at the championships in today’s parallel bars final.