AN Olympic party thrown by his new wife has fired Max Whitlock’s hunger for more record-breaking gymnastic feats.

The Basildon based 24-year-old is Britain’s most successful gymnast and produced one of the stories of the Games in Rio last summer when he won back-to-back gold medals on the floor and the pommel horse.

To mark the anniversary, Leah Whitlock organised a get-together for the whole family to watch Whitlock’s performances again.

And the celebration has made Whitlock determined to secure even more success.

“Everyone came in Team GB clothes as Leah made that compulsory,” said Whitlock.

“My mum, dad and my brother were out in Rio but Leah and all her family went round to our house to watch it all dressed up in Team GB kit so they could relive it as well.

“I don’t often get my medals out or have a look back and this was my first time watching it back properly. It was really, really weird.

“It made me feel really nervous for some reason. I think that’s because I’m coming back into competing, and watching what I did and now I’m trying to do another four-year cycle, it’s really motivating and exciting.

“It made me feel a little bit of what my family feel watching me, obviously 100 times more at the time.”

Whitlock took a long break after Rio and then had another month off this summer centred around his wedding to gymnastics coach Leah.

In between he has been hard at work in the gym, building up new routines on the floor and pommel horse as he looks to stay ahead of his rivals.

Whitlock has upgraded four of his five tumbles on the floor and two moves on the pommel, and he will put both to the test for the first time over the next few weeks at the British trials and then the World Championships.

“I really wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I never wanted to come back from Rio and have the same routines, I always felt I needed to give myself that mission to do those big upgrades.

“And if I stand still then I’m going to be caught and obviously I’ll try for as long as possible for that not to happen. In order to do that, I need to take risks.

“I’m excited to get back on the world stage and try them out. If I do pull them off then hopefully they can keep me at that level and for a long time, but I need to do it now.”

Whitlock is hoping he will have the hardest routines in the world and believes taking time away from competition has made it a smooth process.

“I set targets of learning the new skills in six months and it took me a month or two, and I think it’s because of my mindset and how relaxed I was,” he said.

Whitlock is trying to be relaxed about his performances at the World Championships in Montreal in October as well, but the competitive juices are flowing.

Whitlock, who won gold on the pommel and silver on the floor in Glasgow two years ago, said: “I try hard not to think about results and medals.

“I’d like to go there and, if I can do my routines like in training and the best I possibly can, then I’m happy. But you can’t not think about the titles.

“It’s massive motivation to go there and try and win those titles, it really is.”