It is fair to say that 2016 was a pivotal year for the sport of gymnastics. With the eyes of the world on the Rio Olympics, Great Britain's gymnastics team showed that it was a force to be reckoned with on the most elite of stages, taking home a record haul of seven medals.
Spearheading the charge was Max Whitlock, who became Team GB's most successful Olympic gymnast ever with two gold medals - memorably claiming both in the space of two hours - as well as a bronze, making him an instant household name.
Rio wasn't Max's first time at the rodeo, however - a triple champion and eight-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games, he now heads to Australia's Gold Coast as part of Team England looking to add to his titles.
Ahead of his trip Down Under, Sports Mole sat down for a chat with Max to reflect on a whirlwind 18 months and discuss his plans for the future.
We're about 18 months on from Rio now. How do you look back on that experience?
"It's crazy it was that long ago - time actually flies by! Looking back on it, it was such an amazing feeling - completely outdoing any expectations and the whole experience of being in Rio. It was crazy. I can take so much from that competition, I learned so much from it and it gives me a lot of confidence going forward, especially into the Commonwealths."
You came away from it with three medals, becoming our most successful Olympic gymnast ever - do you feel pressure now and worry that other people are viewing you as a target in competitions?
"There is that pressure, but I try not to think about it like that. The way I went into the World Championships last year - I gained massive motivation from trying to retain my title but for me it was a new year. So I'm proud of Rio and those results in 2016, and I'm proud of my results in 2017, but 2018 is a new year again, so I try not to look at it as people are coming for me or coming for my titles because it's up for grabs for everybody. Everybody's in the same place with the same target, so there is pressure but it's more from expectations of myself and targets I want to hit. There's so much support these days, it's just an incredible place to be."
A lot of attention has come your way as a result of what you did in Rio - how do you cope with that side of it, the attention that isn't to do with the competition itself?
"I feel very lucky because I've had amazing opportunities to work with brands and they've supported me throughout the journey as well. Everything else? I try to keep it as similar as to how it's always been, it's just busier but it's really exciting. Like I said, I feel lucky to be doing what I'm doing and the amount of support we've got, nobody would have expected for the sport itself to rise that much and hopefully we can keep it going."
One of the things you've done since Rio is set up your own gymnastics academies - how's that going and what are your aims?
"It's going amazing. Me and Leah, my wife, set it up and we'd worked on it for so, so long before we put it out there because we wanted it to be absolutely perfect before we did. We've got two locations, two gym clubs up and running now - one in Southend and one in Colchester.
"We are so proud because we truly believe and we feel like we've created the best gymnastics programme there is for foundation-level gymnastics. We hope to expand for the future so we can cover all bases, all ages, all abilities and we've had amazing feedback so far, so we can't wait to see where it can go. Our dream is to basically push it across the country because the demand for gymnastics is higher than what people are supplying and we're looking to supply that."
Are you mainly aiming it at young kids?
"At the moment, yes - it's three to 11 years old, so primary school kids, because there are so many waiting lists around the country. Kids might go to the gym club and be told they have to wait a couple of years. That's a massive shame to hear because then they might turn around and never do gym. So it's about getting them in the door and trying the sport out. If they like it, they'll continue."
The Commonwealths fall slap bang in the middle of your four-year Olympic cycle - how highly do they rank for you in terms of important events to compete at?
"Very high up. I try to look at every single competition the same though - no competition is smaller than others, I feel like that's the best mindset to go in at. The Commonwealth Games has always been huge on my timeline, it's always been the one you can learn so much from as well. It was my first senior competition ever when I was 17 years old and the experience was unbelievable. Being my third Commonwealth Games now, I can't wait to get out there and see what more I can learn."
You got three medals at your first Commonwealths in Delhi, then five in Glasgow - what are your aims this time around?
"For me, I really try hard not to think about medals but obviously it is quite hard not to. I'm focusing obviously on the team, team's a big priority for us, then I'm focusing on floor and pommel horse. I made my focus try to be on those two pieces to show that I could upgrade them and that's what I've done. At the Commonwealth Games I'm trying some big skills and some big upgrades, which brings risk but hopefully can bring reward as well."
The Commonwealth Games' artistic gymnastics competition runs from April 5 to 9 on the Gold Coast. To find out more about Max's gymnastics academies, head to maxwhitlockgymnastics.co.uk.
Neil Wilkes
