Three-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock has been included in the Great Britain squad for the upcoming European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rimini.
The 31-year-old headlines the six-strong GB troupe on the back of surging to the pommel horse title at the British Championships last month, prior to which he placed fifth in the event at last year's World Championships.
With the clock counting down to the Paris 2024 Olympics, where one individual place is on offer at the upcoming Europeans, Whitlock returns to the continental stage after being forced to pull out of last year's Championships due to injury.
The former world pommel horse champion already has eight European medals to his name - including four golds - and he is joined in the ranks by a quintet of gymnasts with varying levels of experience on the international stage.
While Whitlock took the pommel gold at the British last month, Joe Fraser was crowned all-around champion and is also included in the GB Europeans squad as he continues his comeback from numerous serious injuries.
The 2019 parallel bars world champion has undergone shoulder surgery and also battled back from a ruptured appendix and fractured foot since the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, although he still took three European titles at the 2022 edition.
Huge congratulations to the men's senior and junior gymnasts selected for the 2024 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Italy.
— British Gymnastics (@BritGymnastics) April 2, 2024
Have fun guys! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/31fnIfGQqo
Jake Jarman also returns to the Europeans on the back of winning three medals last year - silvers in the all-around and vault, as well as a bronze in the team event - and he has since become the men's world champion in vault.
For the second year running, Jarman will team up with rings specialist Courtney Tulloch, a seven-time European medallist who also took the gold medal in the rings competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Adam Tobin and Luke Whitehouse were both named in the 2023 team alongside Jarman and Tulloch, but the pair have only been selected as reserves this time around, with James Hall and Harry Hepworth taking their spots for 2024.
Twenty-eight-year-old Hall was a part of GB's European Championship-winning team in 2022, while 20-year-old Hepworth is out to win his first honour at a major international event, although he has taken floor and vault medals during the current World Cup series.
The European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held from April 24 to 28, after which the Women's tournament will also take place in Italy from May 2 to 5.
Ben Knapton
