‘Happy’ Bosworth hits back with record-breaking show
Race walker takes first steps on road to Tokyo Knight’s 400m triumph crowns glorious week
Tom Bosworth declared himself the “happiest and healthiest” he has ever been after smashing his own 5,000 metres race walk British record yesterday to kick-start his Olympic medal quest just over a year after twice coming close to taking his own life.
Bosworth, Britain’s only openly gay track and field athlete, backed up his sixth-place finish at the
Rio Olympics when finishing seventh at last year’s World Championships, despite suffering from serious depression in the build-up to the event. Having sought professional psychiatric help and free of a back problem that has troubled him in recent years, Bosworth, 30, says he is feeling mentally and physically better than ever before in his career. That much was evident from his performance as he retained his British title in Glasgow and improved his own national record, with a time of 18min 20.97sec. With most of his main domestic rivals missing these British Indoor Championships, Bosworth finished so far ahead of the field that he was interviewed trackside, and awarded a $2,500 (£1,930) record bonus cheque, before anyone else had even crossed the finish line. “The last couple of years have been a mess on and off the track, so every time I’ve stepped on the track it’s not gone to plan,” he said. “I didn’t want to say anything before, because I’ve had the best winter I’ve ever had, and today demonstrated that.
“I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been. It’s easy to nail it when home life is good and you are enjoying it again.”
Having twice come close to global medals in recent years, Bosworth is confident he is quick enough to make the 20km race walk podium at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
“The 5,000m indoors is always a great tell to roughly see what you’re going to do on the road,” he said. “I’m not putting any specific targets down, because that brings unnecessary pressure, but everyone knows my previous results and I know I should be top eight in every championships I go to.
“My Commonwealth Games time [when winning silver in 2018] was equivalent to Olympic bronze so I’m in there and I have to nail it on the day. I know I can go with the best. For the first time since the Rio Olympics I’m really excited for the season.”
Full-time primary schoolteacher Jessie Knight’s alarm will go off at 6am as usual today to signal a return
‘I know I can go with the best. For the first time since Rio I’m excited for the season’
to the day job, but she capped a half-term to remember by winning the British 400m title.
Knight briefly gave up her athletics aspirations less than three years ago because of the time constraints of her teaching career, but she returned to the sport last year and stunned a world-class 400m field at the previous weekend’s Glasgow Grand Prix to go third on this year’s global list.
Her winning time of 52.76 sec yesterday did not need to be as quick ahead of a return to her main event of the 400m hurdles this summer.
Fresh from breaking the European under-20 indoor record this month, Keely Hodgkinson continued her excellent run when she became the second 17-year-old to claim gold over the weekend with victory in the 800m.
Guy Learmonth won a thrilling men’s equivalent after he was forced to hurdle a stricken rival during a clash in the closing stages.
Learmonth fell twice while racing indoors last year, breaking a finger once, but narrowly avoided the same fate this time.
There were surprises in two of the field events as world shot-put finalist Sophie Mckinna lost out to Amelia Strickler and Commonwealth high jump silver medallist Morgan Lake was beaten by Bethan Partridge.