Queen Elizabeth "loves" gymnastics, according to Olympic athlete Max Whitlock.

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth

The 90-year-old royal has admitted to the British artistic gymnast she loves nothing more than watching flexible sportsman taking part in the discipline because she is always left stunned watching them move into positions that seem impossible.

Speaking to BBC News about the monarch and her thoughts on the specialism when he was awarded an MBE at an investiture ceremony at London's Buckingham Palace on Thursday (23.02.17), the 24 year old said: "She told me she loved watching the gymnastics because the stuff that we do doesn't seem possible."

And Max - who won gold on the floor and on the pommel during the sporting extravaganza in Rio last year - thinks its "pretty cool" the Queen enjoys the sport.

He explained: "It was pretty cool to hear the Queen say she likes the sport."

Although the star has received a number of medals for his ability on the mats and is proud of his "journey" to success, he has credited his meeting with the Queen and being personally awarded the honour the pinnacle of his career.

He said: "It's been a really good journey, and the MBE actually tops it off."

The Royal Family Twitter account has publicly congratulated the star on social media.

They tweeted: "Congratulations @maxwhitlock1, @TeamGB's first ever @Olympics gold medallist in artistic gymnastics, presented his #MBE by The Queen today (sic)."

And Max is "truly honoured" to receive the accolade and has thanked the Royal Family for the "amazing day", which he thinks will inspire budding athletes to embark on a career in the same industry.

He wrote: "I am truly honoured. Thank you so much for an amazing day. Shows what's possible for young athletes #inspireageneration #MBE (sic)."


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