The British race walker's return after Covid-19 has been helped by a training trip to Sicily

It has been a long road to recovery but Tom Bosworth now feels ready for a winter of work following a summer of struggling with coronavirus, writes Jessica Whittington.

Britain's multiple world record-holding race walker became ill in March and returned to training in May but the long-lasting effects of the virus meant he had to take further time out to recover completely.

He went from being in the form of his life, breaking British records, to finding it tough just to do a spot of gardening.

Bosworth "called it a day" in August and says a recent warm weather training trip to Sicily succeeded in getting him back on track.

"I know I react really well to a bit of warm weather and I adapt to heat really well," he says. "It was a bit of a risk because I didn’t know how fit I was going to be – there was no medical – but I went there, two weeks in the sun. It was nothing spectacular in terms of training but just decent mileage and within five days I was noticing the difference of getting fitter and faster and I just felt more comfortable.

"I’ve come back and it’s wet and windy and horrible but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done so far. It’s easier, it’s faster, it’s better quality and it’s enjoyable."

Given what the 30-year-old went through over the summer, enjoyment is key.

"I was so desperate," Bosworth adds on his rush to return. "I had come from a place where I had set back-to-back British records and world leads and that sort of thing, to being completely unfit – so I was desperate to get back there as quickly as possible and all I did was hinder the rest of the summer.

"This year has been a rollercoaster and a half but it has been for everyone. For athletes, we try and time everything so perfectly, and it felt like I had done that the way that indoors and my 10km on the road back in the spring went. I was probably the fastest and fittest I have ever been.

"It did feel like everything was coming together. I am at a peak age and at a peak point in my career that hopefully I could have bettered my sixth place from the Rio Olympics in what would have been the summer Tokyo Olympics.

"I was in the form of my life so I didn't want the Games to be postponed! But at the same time, there just wouldn’t have been an Olympic Games. Even if they had tried to go ahead, it just wouldn’t have been the same or even possible. So it was the right decision all round and we could all focus on looking after one another.

"Now I’m well motivated for the wet and windy winter work that lays ahead."

» Click here to read more from an interview with Tom Bosworth as he talks about targeting a 2022 treble

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