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British record for Leeds Beckett graduate
Race walker, Tom Bosworth, who graduated from Leeds Beckett in 2013 after studying BSc (Hons) Sports Performance, recorded a time of 19 minutes in the 5km event in Birmingham to smash the record by a massive 16 seconds, ahead of the World Championships in Beijing in August.
Well that went well. National record for 5k for the third time! 19:00mins. Another record! The @BritAthletics crowd got me there! Thankyou!!
— Tom Bosworth (@TomBosworth) July 5, 2015
Speaking after the event, Tom, who still trains at Leeds Beckett under the watchful guidance of Andi Drake at the National Race Walking Centre, said: “I always love racing in front of such a big crowd, who were fantastic in cheering me round to get the record! This result shows my form going into World Championships in Beijing and I can't wait to go and show the world what I can do over 20km."
Thank you for the coverage of my event @BBCSport. Trying to move it forward! @BritAthletics! So happy with the record pic.twitter.com/pWU2D7qPRM
— Tom Bosworth (@TomBosworth) July 5, 2015
Coach Andi Drake added: “19:00 for 5km places Tom 7th on this year’s world rankings for the event, which is a great statistic. In Beijing he races over the 20km distance. To improve on his 20km personal best and challenge for a place in the top 20 he needs to be able to do what he did yesterday! To that end I'm delighted - I set him a target of 19:00 and that is exactly what he delivered, with the pace getting faster with every kilometre.
Winner winner British Record chicken dinner @TomBosworth @BritAthletics 19:00 was set, 19:00 delivered #Beijing2015 pic.twitter.com/DP3xPxGwkN
— Andi Drake (@andidrake) July 5, 2015
“It was also technically very good, which is critical in race walking. The new British Record came at the end of a full week of training that had also included a one mile road race that was also a British Record! Tom is in Leeds until late July and then we go to Gifu in Japan for three weeks at altitude before dropping into Beijing for the World Championships 20km on 23 August. Longer term, Beijing forms a dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games next year!”
Sally Nickson, Head of Sport at Leeds Beckett said: "Many congratulations to Tom on this outstanding achievement and we are extremely proud of his new British Championship record. Tom is a very talented athlete who has worked hard to achieve this goal. Well done to all the team for supporting Tom’s success, especially his coach Andi Drake.”
Last month Tom spoke to John Hamilton, Head of Safety, Health & Wellbeing at Leeds Beckett, in the third edition of the Lunchtime Walk and Talk podcast as they discuss the mechanics of walking, Tom’s journey to international athlete and his aspirations for the World Championships in Beijing and beyond.
Amazing performance from @TomBosworth at British Athletics Champs, a whopping 16secs off the national record! #TomWalksFast
— John Hamilton (@johnXhamilton) July 5, 2015
Born in Sevenoaks, Kent on 17 January 1990, Tom grew up in Tonbridge and started doing athletics at his local club, Tonbridge AC, when he was eleven. He tried different events and as his sister did race walking he tried that out about a year later and has been race walking ever since.
In 2009 Tom made his junior debut as a Team GB athlete and also won a scholarship to study BSc (Hons) Sports Performance at Leeds Beckett University and train full time at the National Race Walking Centre. Tom has since completed a post graduate certificate in Sports & Exercise Nutrition and is a qualified trampolining coach and sports masseur.