Tom Bosworth: my greatest race

The British record-holder put life on hold to peak at his debut Olympics in Rio but he was stunned when he found himself leading the field and forced to deal with a rapid change to his own expectations

Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, August 12, 2016 – 20km race walk, sixth place, 80:13

I came so close to qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics but I felt that was a blessing because it was such an epic Games and I think being part of that might have cost me a bit of motivation. I was very motivated for Rio because my dream was to go to all major championships, and I’d done everything else.

January 1 rolled around and I was just living like a nun. Not going out. Sleeping in an altitude tent. No socialising. I never got to see Harry, my partner. It was just focus on every single day, every little bit of one per cent I could find. 

The season had gone so well. I put away a couple of really fast 5000m races indoors and then records just kept falling in the outdoor season. I finally got the 20km British record in Slovakia in March, too. My time of 80:41 was about two-minute PB, and a big step forward, so I was hoping for a top 20 for Rio. 

I just was on cloud nine: getting selected, going and getting all my kit. Life was good. When happy and healthy, athletes tend to perform. I got to Brazil in that sort of place.

The village was incredible. The race walk course was only 15 minutes away. Obviously, no sensible athlete touched McDonald’s until they were done but, from my room, I could always see the queue. If I saw someone in it, I’d go: “Get me four million chicken nuggets, please, and I’ll be down.” We were in a brilliant location.

I’d become pretty good friends with Mo Farah so we spent a lot of time together because we were racing at similar times, did similar things and drank a lot of coffee.

Race week was all nerves. I had never been nervous before a race because I honestly never thought I’d do anything. Then, suddenly, I was like: “Holy s***, this is the Olympic Games!”

I had nerves in my stomach and I was on start line going: “I think I’ve screwed it up because I don’t feel like I’ve eaten properly. I don’t feel like I’ve warmed up correctly. I feel like I’ve frozen a little bit.”

Then the race began and I tried to tell myself to just get into it and then everything would be fine.

My PB pace was 4:01 per kilometre. I knew I was really fit and I just moved through the group, checked my watch on lap two and three, moving my way onto 4:01s –  which took me into first place. 

I ended up first by sticking to my plan and went through halfway still leading when I expected to be somewhere around 18th or 19th.

A Kenyan athlete came with me for about 2km and then disappeared. I just thought: “What on earth is going on here? They’ll catch me and I’ll hang on for top 20.” Instead of thinking: “How am I feeling? I’m leading. How long can I keep this up for?”

I just kept ticking off the laps until, closer to 15km, I felt the chase pack starting to pull me in a little bit. Walking on your own, it’s a little bit lonely with nobody to work off, but technically it’s much easier because you’ve got the space around you to focus on every step.

I hadn’t received any red cards or anything like that. As I fatigued, I think I got one but it was well into the race and I was in complete control. I was sticking to my plan.

When the lead group caught me, I sort of tucked into the back and said: “Right, I’m going to just go with them.” Then I started to fatigue quite badly and it was really shattering.

But, suddenly, my mindset went from: “I might still finish in the top 20” to “wait, I’ve led the Olympic Games the last 16km. I’m not giving this up.” I had dropped back to ninth but that lead group had started to spread out a bit.

There was a brilliant noise. It was for the Brazilian, Caio Bonfirm, who was in third or fourth but I was like: “I’m using it because it’s for me.” Over the the last 2km, I moved up to sixth. Crossing the line, I saw the time, and I’d gone faster in the second half than the first half. I hadn’t blown up at all. I was just in shock.

I’d finished sixth at the Olympic Games. I knew what top eight meant. It’s the equivalent of making the Olympic final and I knew everything was going to change there. I went from absolutely nobody in the British team to “this guy is in a weird event, but he’s quite good at it.”

But it is a regret of mine that looking back, how naive I was going into that race. How I didn’t have any confidence that I could achieve what I did that day or even potentially better. It’s something I definitely kick myself for.

READ MORE: My greatest race series

The setting was amazing, along the beachfront in Rio, with the mountain and the favelas in the background. That whole period was great – the training, the positive memories, making new friends, spending time with old friends all the way through the build-up.

I proposed to Harry a few days later on Copacabana Beach. There were lots of people around Team GB who were aware because I’d asked them to look after the engagement ring that I’d bought in Heathrow Airport with Andy Butchart and Tom Farrell as my wing men.

It was the ideal romantic setting. It was a great Games with all my family and Harry there. It wasn’t just one day, it was a great 10 weeks.

As told to Mark Woods

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