Tom Bosworth competed at the Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 before retiring in 2022. (Photo by ... [+]
The British Olympic team, commonly known as Team GB, is targeting a minimum of 50 medals at the Paris 2024 Games and believes a British record of 70 is within reach.
At the Tokyo Games in 2021, Team GB won 64 medals, while it achieved its best-ever medal haul of 67 at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, I spoke to retired British race walker Tom Bosworth, widely regarded as one of the country’s most successful athletes in the discipline.
Bosworth represented Team GB at the Olympics in Rio and Tokyo, and was awarded an MBE in the King's New Years' Honors List 2024 for services to race walking.
Here are the edited excerpts from the interview:
Manasi Pathak: Do you think Team GB can achieve a record 70 medals in Paris?
Tom Bosworth: For such a little nation, we always overachieve. If you look at the most recent Games, we over-achieved massively and we love our sport in the United Kingdom.
We pretty much support every Olympic sport and we've got some medals hopes in that, so I don't see why not.
Pathak: How many gold medals do you predict for Team GB in athletics? Who are your medal prospects?
Bosworth: Six to eight medals is realistic. We could do more than that. The trouble with athletics is that it’s probably one of the most worldwide sports and the depth is incredible. If you finish in the top 12 in athletics it’s a massive achievement, whereas in other sports that's almost seen as failure.
For Team GB, Molly Caudery in the pole vault had a standout season. She won the world indoor title, she will do well. We’ll do well in the relays, I hope we do well in the sprints – the girls are in with a shot of making the finals. Daryll Neita and Dina Asher-Smith [in the 100 and 200m events] are both going to be on fire.
Our middle distance is incredible. We have so much depth that our 1500m world champion from 2022, Jake Wightman, couldn’t even make the team and he’s running in the 800m instead. George Mills is doubling up in the 5000m [along with 1500m].
Then there’s Josh Kerr, who will want to beat Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the 1500m Olympic gold as well. So yeah, the team is really exciting.
Tom Bosworth celebrates a new World Record in the men's 3000M Walk Race during Day One of the Muller ... [+]
Pathak: Callum Wilkinson will compete in the 20km race walk. It will be his second Olympic appearance after he finished 10th at Tokyo. What do you think about his medal prospect?
Bosworth: It's going to be difficult for him. I wish him luck. The depth in the race walks is worldwide. He had a great debut Olympics three years ago, but I think a medal in Paris is going to be a bit of a push. He isn’t quite up there and I know he has had a lot of injuries.
I am just pleased that we have a representative for race walking at the Olympics because a few years ago we had quite a bit of depth but now that seems to have got lost a little bit. He’s the only race walker for Team GB this time.
Pathak: The race walk will feature the mixed team relay for the first time at the Olympics. What do you think about its inclusion and the format?
Bosworth: It’s a bit of a weird one, but we have seen these mixed races in the 4x400m relays and the triathlon. I think it needs to be executed very well because it could get quite confusing.
It's such a long distance, people are going to be at different points and the disqualification in race walking needs to be told quite well, so people can understand what's going on.
Something that is overlooked with race walking is that loads of people will watch marathons and find them entertaining and then some people will watch race walks and feel they don't really understand what's the technique or think that it’s not as good as running.
Then people start to learn how fast we walk and there’s the jeopardy that even in the last lap you could you could get disqualified and it's such a fine margin. So, I think if that's told correctly, the race walks could become entertaining events.
Fireworks ignite over the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic ... [+]
Pathak: It’s been 12 years since the London Olympics. Can you tell me a bit about the legacy of the home Games?
Bosworth: Many people still come up to me and talk about London 2012. Everyone was just surprised at the impact it had in London, the sort of environment that the Olympic bubble created and that certainly stayed on.
I talk to young athletes now trying to qualify for LA 2028 and a lot of them are inspired by what happened in London. We still see highlight reels in this country of moments that happened in London and that's fantastic.
There were a lot of question marks over the legacy but the fact that 12 years on people still reminisce in such a positive way. It just shows exactly what the Olympics are about and how it inspired people.
I recently went to Stratford and stayed at the new YOTELPAD London Stratford, which is just a couple of minutes away from the Olympic Park. It has changed a lot but is an absolutely bustling little area. Usually, the Olympic parks and the infrastructure are not utilized afterwards. But that was well taken care of.
I think London showed how to do the Olympic Games, it was probably one of the best.
Pathak: How do you encourage people to take up walking as a daily accessible exercise?
Bosworth: At the moment I'm running some pilots with charities and GP practices about getting walking prescribed… I want to petition to the UK government to bring it into workplaces and healthcare.
It's not just about walking fast, it’s about getting people active and that was part of why I partnered with YOTELPAD London Stratford to get people walking around the Olympic Park. They're getting their 10,000 steps in and it’s a great initiative.
Walking can be done almost anywhere, wearing almost anything and with very little cost if any at all. So this is why I've gone down this health route, trying to encourage and change people's lives through walking.
Bosworth partnered with YOTELPAD London Stratford for their ‘Step into Stratford’ campaign, whereby guests can collect a map from reception, with a route that equates to 10,000 steps that showcases the top sights and hidden gems to check out in Stratford.