A S the strains of Jerusalem rang out around the SSE Hydro during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Max Whitlock was atop the podium not once, but three times.

To say it has been a stellar year for the British gymnast doesn't do justice to his raft of achievements.

The past 12 months have seen him become European pommel horse champion, claim three Commonwealth Games gold medals and take individual all-around silver at the 2014 World Championships. Add to that the senior men's British all-around title, a European team silver, and a further two apparatus medals at Glasgow 2014 - silver on pommel horse and bronze on parallel bars - and it is quite some medal haul. He was also nominated for the 2014 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award which was won by Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton last weekend.

"I had hoped it would be a good year but I never imagined getting that many medals," Whitlock says. "It's been amazing but tough too because we didn't have a lot of time to rest and recover in between. It feels fantastic now for it all to be done and to have come away with everything that I have."

The line-up at the Commonwealth Games saw the British men's team essentially split down the middle with Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis and Frank Baines competing for Scotland and Whitlock, Nile Wilson, Kristian Thomas, Louis Smith and Sam Oldham representing England. While it was Scotland who had to settle for silver, Whitlock, 21, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, insists that although there was some good-natured ribbing between the two sides, their close-knit bond and camaraderie never wavered.

"It was very different and felt a bit strange at first but also really good fun," he says. "There was lot of banter being thrown around in the gym and even though we were competing for different countries, we were still training together the whole build-up to the Games. It was great because everyone got medals and I think we came out of it as a closer and stronger team."

After such a strong Glasgow 2014, Whitlock turned his attention to the World Championships in Nanning in October. Yet, he looked untypically uncertain in qualification, missing out on a spot in the all-around final after placing below British team-mates Purvis and Wilson. Wilson's subsequent withdrawal on account of a wrist injury threw open the door for Whitlock, but there were mutterings in some quarters that it was a tactical ploy by the British Gymnastics camp to better their chances of a medal. However, Wilson, who won a record-breaking five European junior gold medals at the start of the year, has since undergone surgery.

"It was tough because I didn't feel I deserved that spot," says Whitlock. "I made mistakes and Nile deserved to be in the all-around final. But I was told his wrist was too badly injured to compete and it's shown since that it was probably a good thing he didn't take part as he could have been out of action for even longer. I know he'll come back stronger for next year."

Whitlock, a double bronze medallist at London 2012, went from thinking his chance had gone to being catapulted back into the thick of the action. "It was the first experience I've had like that in a competition," he says. "I was actually quite stressed but my coach did a great job of picking me back up. He basically said that yes, I'd mucked up but we were going to get back in the gym, train hard and make sure it never happened again. I had only just got my head around the fact I was done, that I had come away from the World Championships without any medals, when I found out I had another chance and that was a big shock. It then took me ages to get my head around that. I realised: 'I'm lucky to get to compete on this stage again, so I have to go out there and enjoy the experience'."

Whitlock took silver, finishing 1.492 points behind the great Kohei Uchimura of Japan who claimed a record fifth consecutive all-around world title, but he did push Uchimura's compatriot Yusuke Tanaka into bronze. He admits it felt "pretty surreal" seeing pictures of him standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his hero on the podium.

"I've seen photographs of other gymnasts who have stood next to Uchimura in the past and always thought it would be pretty amazing to do that," he says. "To do it myself feels unbelievable. I've looked up to the Japanese guys for many years now and aspired to be like them because I admire their style of gymnastics."

Sadly, Whitlock didn't have much chance to chat with Uchimura. "All of the Japanese gymnasts are fairly secretive and keep themselves to themselves, but it was the first time he had shaken my hand and acknowledged me so that was a good feeling," he says.

One of Whitlock's closest friends among the British men's squad is Oldham, who suffered an ankle injury on vault - England's opening piece of apparatus on day two of the team competition at Glasgow 2014. Oldham exited the arena in a wheelchair, a moment that had distinct echoes of Daniel Keatings at Melbourne in 2006. "I've trained with Sam since I was nine," he says. "It was a huge shame for him to get injured in Glasgow. I've gone to so many competitions with him over the years and we usually share rooms when we're away. He's doing well, though, and is a fighter."

Whitlock, who trains at South Essex where he is coached by Scott Hann, counts himself fortunate that he has not had to face any such adversity in his own sporting career, and ranks this year's World Championships as being pivotal in his growth as an athlete.

"It's been a learning curve for me because I think I went into qualification taking it too seriously," he says. "I always say that every competition I want to go out there, keep chilled and enjoy the experience. This one, though, I put too much pressure on myself and it showed. I don't usually think about what medals I could potentially bring home, but for some reason at this World Championships I did. I really wanted to do well. It just got into my head a little too much. I've since realised that I can't think too much about that side of it. I need to go out there and perform as I would in training."

Whitlock, who recently moved into his first home with girlfriend Leah, 23, a gymnastics coach, has had to adjust to the attention that being among the upper echelons of his chosen sport can bring. "I get quite a lot of fan mail which is nice and I've had some lovely letters since the Games," he says. "Twitter has been amazing: the whole social media thing has been pretty unbelievable. After competitions it's great to go back and spend an hour reading through all the tweets of support."

He laughs when asked whether Britain's gymnasts are ousting the nation's divers such as Tom Daley as the pin-ups on teenage girls' walls. "It is a great feeling and I know the whole British gymnastics team feels that much more acknowledged in terms of the attention the sport is getting," he says.

Whitlock credits the BBC gymnastics-themed talent show Tumble, featuring judges Nadia Comaneci, Louis Smith and Craig Heap, as helping further raise that profile. He performed on the opening night of the show in August alongside fellow Commonwealth Games stars including Sunday Herald columnist Adam Cox.

"The series was a massive success and I think we need to just keep putting gymnastics out there and hopefully inspire more young people to join the sport," he says. "You can see the effect it's having - my gym club has a waiting list more than a year long."

For Whitlock, 2015 will be a crucial year in the qualification process for the Olympic Games in Rio. The English Championships take place from March 13-15 followed by the British Championships from March 27-29, which will be vital preparation ahead of the European Championships in Montpellier, France, in April.

Whitlock will be aiming to be back in Glasgow when the city plays host to the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships at the SSE Hydro in October. "Every athlete aims for a gold medal and I want to keep pushing towards that," he says. "Europeans, worlds and Olympics are the three majors coming up so hopefully I can go out there, keep doing what I've been doing and perform well."

• The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships will be held at SSE Hydro, Glasgow, from October 23-November 1. For more ticket information, visit 2015worldgymnastics.com