MAX Whitlock said becoming England’s most decorated gymnast in Commonwealth Games history was “pretty amazing”.
The 21-year-old won his fifth medal of the Glasgow Games and his eighth piece of precious Commonwealth metal of his career when he won a bronze medal on the parallel bars.
It makes it a full set of medals from this Games for Whitlock who has won three golds in the team, all-round and floor competitions, a silver on the pommel horse and now a bronze on the bars.
“It feels amazing,” said Whitlock, who trains at the South Essex Gym Club at Basildon’s Sporting Village.
“The whole experience has been special. I couldn’t have done it without the support in the venue, the atmosphere has been amazing.”
Whitlock admitted he had not even contemplated how many medals he would win before the competition started and was solely focused on executing his routines as best he could.
“I try not to focus on things like that,” he said. “I just try to focus on my job. I don’t really look around too much because it distracts me.
“I feel so happy my competition has now finished. It’s been five days in a row and it’s been tough but really enjoyable. I’m just so happy to round it off with a medal on the parallel bars.
“The parallel bars was always a bit of a bonus for me,” added Whitlock whose routine scored 15.066. “I felt like I just needed to grow in confidence and pull off that routine. I’m happy I was able to do that.”
Whitlock finished behind his England team-mate Nile Wilson who won silver with 15.433 and the gold-medallist, Scotland’s Daniel Purvis who brought the house down with his routine that scored him 15.533.
Fans of Whitlock can expect to see him back at Basildon’s Sporting Village next week as he revealed he won’t be taking any time off to enjoy his glorious Commonwealth success.
Instead he will working towards his next big objective, the World Championships in October.
“There’s no time for a holiday,” he said. “The World Championships are coming up so I will be back training next week. But there will be a few days when hopefully we can dip down a bit and then, hopefully, come back up for the Worlds.
“I’m still buzzing now but once the adrenaline has worn off I’m sure I’ll feel pretty tired. But it’s been an amazing five days.”
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