Tokyo delay helps Bosworth walk in

Team GB racewalker Tom Bosworth believes it will take winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo to surpass his experience of the last Games in Rio.

The Leeds-based 31-yearold is grateful that the global showpiece was delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic after catching the virus left him feeling like he’d been “run over by a bus – twice”.

“There was no way I would have been competing last summer if they went ahead, it would have been gutting,” said Bosworth, who had set British records over 5km and 10km before falling ill last year.

“It opened my eyes very early on to this, that this wasn’t just just the flu, which is what we were hearing at that point. In March last year, we knew nothing about it.

“I felt normal again by the end of April so May was pretty steady training, but that left me again feeling I was really really broken by the end of it. June and July were a mess in terms of training so we just called it a day and started back at the beginning of September.

“I’m glad those Games were cancelled because it did take that pressure off really rushing back because I could have probably done myself more damage.”

Bosworth came out in 2015 and is the only openly gay male athlete on the British athletics team. Having proposed to boyfriend Harry on Copacabana beach after finishing sixth in the 20km walk in Rio, Tokyo will be a hard act to follow.

Bosworth was one of seven athletes officially named in the Great Britain team for Tokyo, joining Chris Thompson, Ben Connor, Callum Hawkins, Stephanie Davis, Jess Piasecki and Steph Twell.