English gymnast Max Whitlock, winner of three Olympic gold medals, announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Scotland due to a hand injury sustained during training. Whitlock posted his decision on his official Instagram account, saying: 'I am extremely disappointed to have to say that I have no choice but to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games. Representing the English team has always meant so much to me, and I was working very hard to have the chance to compete and contribute to the team again. Unfortunately, I sustained an injury to my hand during training, and despite doing everything I could to give myself the best chance to compete, I will not be able to recover in time. Setbacks are part of sport, and my focus now is on recovering properly, supporting the team, and coming back stronger than before.'

Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games from July 23 to August 2.

Whitlock had returned from retirement late last year with the aim of securing a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, after failing to reach the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is 33 years old and has won four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games (Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018), in addition to three Olympic golds at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He now hopes to recover properly and continue his career.