PEDAL TO THE MEDAL

At 15 Josh Armstrong was forced to give up karting and opted for rowing. Within two years he was a world champion and now has his sights set on the 2020 Olympics with team GB

Josh Armstrong finished fifth and 10th overall in the men’s single scull at a World Rowing Cup II event in Poland, with all four of his races being inside seven minutes for the first time.

It’s a far cry from an 11-yearold youngster gleefully darting around circuits in a kart, as Josh competed in the Super One British Karting Championships.

A growth spurt at 15 prevented the Hamilton youngster from emulating drivers like David Coulthard, but he was eager to take part in another sport, and gave rowing a try.

Within two years, Josh had helped to win gold as part of a GB quadruple sculls team at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Brazil, sealing his name in the record books as part of a first British team to take the top prize at any World Championships level.

Two years on from then, Josh has just returned from the World Cup II event in Poznan, where he jumped from the junior squad to the senior squad, following senior trials in April.

Josh (19) has now set his sights on competing for Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and in last week’s Hamilton Advertiser, performance coach Lee Boucher said he has every chance of doing that, should he continue the hard work.

It’s changed days from when a disappointed teenager was forced to give up a motorsport that he enjoyed.

Josh said: “Back when I was 15 I was disappointed that I had to give up karting, but quite quickly I realised that I was good at rowing.

“I worked hard, won a few races and I definitely feel that I made the right decision.

“It was almost like I fell into the right sport, one that I was supposed to be doing all along, and I definitely chose the right one — I have no regrets.

“Within two years I was a world champion and it has all accelerated quite quickly.”

Josh was pleased with his result in Poznan, but more than anything else he’s keen to implement what he learned, especially with the World Rowing Under-23 Championships looming, which take place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from July 19-23.

Ultimately the aim is to represent Team GB in Japan, but Josh is taking it one step at a time.

He said: “It went very well over in Poland. I managed to get to the ‘B’ final, and it was a big step, so I was pretty pleased with my first senior event.

“I managed to make the step up, I’ve never experienced an event like that, as I’ve only ever been junior, but it set a good benchmark for future years.

“The next test is the Under-23 World Championships and I’ve only ever been a junior before, so I’m moving up a level, but the experience in Poland will help me in that, and to cope with the added pressure.

“I’m in a pretty good position in terms of my age, as the other guys were five or 10 years older than me.

“I’m doing better than anybody could have expected, so a lot of the pressure is what I put on myself, and what my level of expectation is, but I want to do well and see where that takes me.

“Tokyo is the ultimate aim, but it’s little stepping stones just now — and the Under-23 World Championships is the first step in that.”

Although the expectation from coaches isn’t enormous, Josh wants to make an impression, is taking the World Championships extremely seriously, and is certainly putting in the work.

“Training has taken over fulltime, pretty much, so there is a lot involved in that,” he said, “I’ll be training for four or five hours a day until the end of July.

“Rowing is a sport where you get out of it what you put in, so hopefully I will do well over there.”

It was almost like I fell into the right sport, one that I was supposed to be doing all along