Two-time Olympian, Tom Bosworth (coach: Andi Drake) retired from competitive athletics on Monday as he competed in one final race at his home club in Tonbridge as a show of appreciation to those people who supported him when he entered the sport.

Bosworth has enjoyed a remarkable career in the race walks and will go down in the record books as one of the country’s most successful athletes in the discipline.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the 20km race walk, retires from the sport holding the British record with a time of 1:19:38 which he set on his way to the podium on the Gold Coast. He also co-captained the English team in Australia four years ago.

He competed at the Olympic Games in Rio and Tokyo, his best performance was his sixth-place finish on the Copacabana in Brazil in 2016, and he achieved seventh place finishes at the World Championships (2019) and European Championships (2018) during his illustrious career.

Bosworth has won 21 national titles during his career and has set world bests in the race walks over the mile and 3000m outdoors and indoors, both set at UK meetings in front of a vociferous home crowd.

Away from the sport, Bosworth has been an ambassador for LGBT+ rights, and was a steering force behind the launch of the Athletics Pride Network in April 2020. He has also acted as a Stonewall Sport champion.

Upon his retirement, Bosworth said, “It’s been truly special having the opportunity to end on my terms, at a home Championships in Birmingham followed by the opportunity to race one last time back at my home track in Tonbridge, 21 years later from when I first joined the club. I never dreamed any of this was possible, I followed by sister into the club, for purely fun and fitness. I never put a limit on what I could achieve but I never thought I’d achieve what I have. Hopefully along the way I’ve given race walking a little more coverage it might not have got in the past and shown a few people that some can walk as fast as people run.”