Max Whitlock

Known for his down-to-earth personality and tremendous prowess on the mat, Max Whitlock was born in Hemel Hempstead, England in 1993. He began practicing gymnastics at the age of seven, discovering he had a tremendous aptitude for the sport. By 2010, Whitlock was competing for England at the Commonwealth Games, winning the silver medal for the pommel horse, the bronze for the horizontal bars, and helping his team win the silver medal overall. He would follow this with an impressive show at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where he won the bronze medal in the pommel horse and helped his team win the bronze overall. Subsequent successes would follow at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and the English Games, but health problems would strike for the young athlete at the beginning of 2015, sapping his stamina. The trouble turned out to be a low grade glandular fever, which forced Whitlock to adhere to a strict regimen of bed rest for three weeks. After that period, he was able to gradually ease back into his usual training routine, eventually returning to the competitive circuit for the Glasgow World Cup in 2015, where he won the all-around.