Tom Bosworth

Thomas Stewart "Tom" Bosworth (born 17 January 1990) is a British race walker who holds the World Record for the 1Mile race walk. He also holds British records for walking 3 km, 5 km, 10 km and 20 km. He is currently ranked 1st overall in the UK for 20 km. His PB is now 1:19:38. He first set the 20 km British record in Dudince, Slovakia in March 2016 to better a 20 km race walk mark set by Ian McCombie in 1988 clocking 80:41 taking 81 seconds off McCombie’s record, which was set just over a year before Bosworth was even born. He is the British Record Holder for the 10k race walk, 39:36, set in 2015 along with the 5000m race walk, 18:28.20, set in Birmingham at the 2018 British indoor team trials to qualify for the World Indoor Championships. He Has won six British Outdoor Championships in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Along with five British Indoor Championships, his first in 2015 followed by 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Bosworth currently trains full-time at the UK Race Walking centre in Leeds, at Leeds Met University.

Bosworth was also selected to carry the Olympic Torch through Potternewton, Leeds.

Personal bests

Bosworth came out as gay on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show on 13 October 2015. In the interview he explained that his family, friends and fellow sports athletes had known that he was gay for a number of years, and the coming out was to a wider audience to answer lingering questions from fans and to be himself. In the interview he told the BBC that he had been in "a really happy relationship" for the last four-and-a-half years. He proposed to and was accepted by his now-fiancé, Harry Dineley on Copacabana Beach during the Rio Olympics.

In 2018, he said that he was ready to risk prison to defend LGBT rights in Qatar during the 2019 World Athletics Championships,which are being held in September/October 2019. In 2019 he gave an interview to the BBC, broadcast during the World Athletics Championship coverage, he discussed how his elimination during the London 2017 race led to depression and also attempts to take his own life. He has since regained his equilibrium and enjoys his sport once again.