Olympic heroes Whitlock and Wilson spearhead GB worlds challenge

Double Olympic champion Max Whitlock will lead a 10-strong Great Britain team to the World Gymnastics Championships in Montreal next month.
Great Britain's Nile Wilson celebrates winning a bronze medal in the men's horizontal bar at the Rio Olympics Games (Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)Great Britain's Nile Wilson celebrates winning a bronze medal in the men's horizontal bar at the Rio Olympics Games (Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Great Britain's Nile Wilson celebrates winning a bronze medal in the men's horizontal bar at the Rio Olympics Games (Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

Whitlock will be joined by Rio bronze medallists Nile Wilson, of Leeds, and Amy Tinkler as they look to build on their extraordinary success at last year’s Olympics.

The 24-year-old insisted he is unfazed by the weight of expectation as he bids to defend the pommel crown he won in Glasgow in 2015 to become Britain’s first male world champion.

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Whitlock said: “I am trying not to think about going in there to defend my title because I want to keep the pressure off as much as possible.

Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)
Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

“I don’t tend to look at what my rivals are doing but I’m happy with the upgrades I’ve made to my routine and the level I will now be going in at.

“My new start score on the pommel is hopefully still the highest in the world, so if I go through the routine clean then the scoring should take care of itself.”

Wilson who won bronze on the horizontal bar in Rio last summer, will make his return to a major championships for the first time since he snapped his ankle ligaments in a freak training fall in January.

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Wilson, 21, will face a domestic challenge on the high bar from James Hall, who excelled at the European Championships in April winning all-around silver.

Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)
Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson at the Leeds Gymnastic Club. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

The men’s squad is completed by European rings bronze medallist Courtney Tulloch, London 2012 bronze medallist Dan Purvis, and British champion Joe Fraser.

Teenage star Tinkler is joined in the women’s team by Claudia Fragapane, Alice Kinsella and Georgia-Mae Fenton.