Tom Bosworth finishes superb sixth in men's 20km walk in Rio
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 12/08/16 10:26pm
Tom Bosworth produced the performance of his life to finish sixth in the men's 20km walk and break his own British record.
Bosworth was well in contention for a medal over the first 12km as he more than matched pre-race expectations by holding on to the lead. He was passed by a group of walkers soon after but stayed with them until the pace lifted in the final 2000 metres,
However Bosworth still made up a couple of places he had lost in the closing stages as he came home sixth, only 59 seconds off the winner, China's Zhen Wang.
Bosworth's finishing time of one hour, 20 minutes and 13 seconds was 28 seconds quicker than he had ever managed before.
"I'm in shock at what happened," Bosworth said. "I just thought 'I will take it on'. The pace was so easy, I thought people would just come with me.
"I felt good and was comfortable with the pace I was going, but I knew I had the best in the world behind me and I knew they would catch me, but I just tried to hold on.
"I dropped down to ninth at one point, but I thought, 'screw this, I've not led the race for this long to finish outside the top eight,' and just went for it.
"I can't be disappointed with sixth place at the Olympics, but I could have done better as I had a dodgy stomach last night and that affected me a little bit.
"But to break the British record by such a margin, and at the Olympics, is a dream come true."
