Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock welcomes first child with wife Leah

max whitlock welcomes first child
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock has welcomed his first child with wife Leah.

The Olympic gymnast took to social media to reveal the exciting news to his 216,000 followers.

Posting a sweet close-up black and white photo of he and wife Leah holding the hand of their newborn on both his Instagram and Twitter feeds, the 26-year-old announced that the pair had welcomed a baby daughter – and he even revealed the gorgeous name they had given her!

A photo posted by on

‘Welcome Willow Whitlock to the world,’ wrote the excited dad. ‘Born Saturday 23rd February, weighing 7lb 13. It’s the most amazing, proud and indescribable feeling!

‘My girls are incredible,’ he added.

Fans and followers rushed to congratulate the new parents, with the posts jointly raking up nearly 40,000 likes in only 12 hours.

‘@maxwhitlock such a beautiful and precious time,’ wrote one follower.

A photo posted by on

‘To love another human is an amazing feeling but the love of a parent is indescribable (to which I’m sure you and Leah are feeling now) congratulations on the arrival of baby willow.

‘Time goes by so very quickly and she will grow so fast enjoy every minute especially the sleepless nights they are the precious hours. X’

Other fans added:‘Congratulations!! So incredibly exciting! Wishing your family all the very best! And Willow is a gorgeous name’; while another added: ‘Congratulations @maxwhitlock enjoy making new wonderful memories now ❤’.

A photo posted by on

This is the first child for the five-time Olympic medallist and his wife of nearly two years, who announced that they were expecting a baby back in September with a creative and gymnast-inspired video.

Taking a block of white chalk to a gym floor, the world champion - who in the past has been inspiration for parents choosing their baby names - wrote out: ‘Baby Whitlock coming soon’ and then drew a pair of balloons containing the words ‘Feb 2019’.

A photo posted by on

Fans were shocked at the reveal, as the location for the video suggested that he would be writing something gymnast-related.

‘OMG NO WAY I SERIOUSLY DIDNT EXPECT THAT’, exclaimed one excited follower.

Congratulations to Max and Leah!

Aleesha Badkar
Lifestyle Writer

Aleesha Badkar is a lifestyle writer who specialises in health, beauty - and the royals. After completing her MA in Magazine Journalism at the City, the University of London in 2017, she interned at Women’s Health, Stylist, and Harper’s Bazaar, creating features and news pieces on health, beauty, and fitness, wellbeing, and food. She loves to practice what she preaches in her everyday life with copious amounts of herbal tea, Pilates, and hyaluronic acid.