Double Olympic Gold Medallist Visit to Aylesbury's Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School

Double Rio 2016 gold medallist Max Whitlock took time out of his busy training schedule to visit students at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School on Friday 9th December.
Max WhitlockMax Whitlock
Max Whitlock

As one of Team GBs most successful Olympians Max has stayed true to the London 2012 athletes’ promise to inspire a generation and spent a great deal of time answering students’ questions, letting them hold his Olympic medals and having photographs taken with him.

Max spoke of his dedication of moving away from home as a 12 year old to train full time in Slovenia and how he motivates himself to train everyday now – even when sometimes things do not go to plan. Max was honest about his successes, but also about when competitions had gone wrong and how he always picks himself up and looks forward.

When approaching big competitions he spoke of how he knows how hard he has worked and that he is prepared because of this, so despite the nerves he can approach the situation with confidence; drawing a real parallel with many of the situations that our students find themselves in.

Max was truly inspiration for the students to listen to and a day in their school career that I am sure they will remember forever, as will some of the staff!

Rachel Selby, Faculty Leader for PE Sports Ambassador Marissa Sissou added:"To be given the opportunity to listen to and ask questions to one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympians was undeniably one of the most motivational and inspirational experiences I have ever had.

Max Whitlock demonstrated that through hard work and determination, it is possible to achieve anything that you wish to and it is possible for anyone.

To say that Max fulfils every moment of his day would be an understatement. Max explained how he would set aside time in-between his training programme to do normal things that a young person would do, such as completing his homework.

This is therefore a prime example of someone who will never find an excuse for not completing or finishing a task, but will also never accept failure. This is something that I and I am sure many of the other students listening can take away and apply it to their work ethic at school.

Max also explained how in whatever situation he is put in, nerves will always play a part, whether this is simply talking to us or performing in an Olympic final. Max Whitlock therefore demonstrated how to approach difficult situations in a positive way, something which can be applied to all of our daily lives.

Year 8 Zahra Navarro wrote about the experience: "It was an honour to speak to Max Whitlock and ask him who his inspirations are. It was once in a life time opportunity to hear, see and speak to Max and I should hopefully be seeing him perform in 2020 Olympics where he will continue to inspire me proving that boys can do anything girls can do and girls can do anything boys can do. I am not the best gymnast in the world but I still love to do gymnastics.

"I watched the 2016 Olympics and I thought it was amazing. I love when he did the floor work and I was so happy that he won gold. It was great to be given the opportunity and I enjoyed every minute."

Aylesbury Nissan proudly supported Max Whitlock on his road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. To find out more about Nissan’s partnership with Team GB, visit nissan.co.uk/uniteandexcite

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