WHITLOCK NOT GETTING BACK ON THE HORSE

MAX WHITLOCK admits there have been difficult moments.

- ALAN SMITH

Equally, Britain's greatest gymnast feels like a "weight has been lifted off my shoulders". Three months on from his final act at the Paris Olympics, Whitlock is still coming to terms with retirement.

Golf and padel have provided welcome distractions - "I've never had hobbies before" - and he has allowed himself to occasionally let loose on the food front.

But Whitlock, 31, has started to crave structure.

"It's been a weird one," he says. "At first it was a little bit tricky navigating what it P looks like when after 24 years you come to a hard stop.

That's tough.

"What my days look like now are a bit different but I'm loving it. I've had a sense of freedom that's been really nice but I'm creeping up to the stage where I need the structure back, working out a way to fit everything in.