Whitlock to keep his options open

Max Whitlock has refused to rule out a return to all-around competition after becoming the first British gymnast to retain a world title, in Montreal on Saturday night.

Whitlock covets his all-around bronze medal at last year’s Rio Olympics, but took the tough decision to focus solely on pommel and floor apparatus for the immediate future.

The 24-year-old’s move paid off as he dominated the pommel competition in Canada, despite an attack of nerves and a mistake in floor qualifying that left him languishing in 47th place.

And despite previously indicating his future may lie in individual apparatus, Whitlock admitted watching the allaround final in Montreal could have caused a change of heart.

Whitlock said: “When I was sitting and watching the allaround final I did realise how much I missed it.

“I’m going to go and reflect on it and decide what is the best way to move forward. If I was to do all-around I’d have to have the same mind-set on six pieces, which is very tough.”

Whitlock won the pommel final with a score of 15.441, comfortably eclipsing his rivals, but believes he can increase his dominance with a number of additional moves including the top-secret ‘Whitlock’ that he is continuing to perfect.

Whitlock’s coach Scott Hann, added: “We know the level is getting higher in the all-around, and Max is the best in the world on pommel. What we could do is go back and work really hard on all six apparatus, or we could look at what he’s best at and try to perfect that.”