Britain’s triathlete Tom Bishop gearing up for Tokyo 2021 challenge
At 29, Derby’s Tom Bishop is one of Britain’s leading triathletes and has his best chance yet to take part in the Olympics when, hopefully, they go ahead in Tokyo next year. Here, Bishop tells the story of his early career and preparations for Tokyo.
I grew up with my twin brother, David, on a cul-de-sac in Mackworth. We moved to Allestree and Woodlands Community School, as it was called then, was where my triathlon career really began.
As kids, we never took sport too seriously. Rather, we just did it and enjoyed ourselves. But there came a point when a decision had to be made about our dedication and commitment to triathlon and this choice came when we were 16.
You could say it was a coming of age moment and a few sacrifices had to be made. Growing up, we had joined numerous sports clubs, including school football and cricket teams, but these had to end.
We were also members of City of Derby Swimming Club and Derby Athletics Club and they were fundamental in developing our triathlon skill set.
As sixth formers, we had a bit more time in the week to train and began to get access to the British Triathlon Team in Loughborough, with early morning sessions three times a week before school and a general increase in training hours, eight to 18 hours. We also started to cycle with the local group De Uno, adding sessions at lunchtime and after school, too.
The load was tough to balance around A-level studies but we both achieved some solid grades earned spots at university, myself at Leeds and David at Loughborough.
Our A-level years saw us develop into the best junior triathletes in the country, winning multiple medals, and I even represented Great Britain at youth and junior age groups. I said it was tough but we loved every minute, pushing each other to be the best we could.
At the end of my first year, I came second at the junior World Championships and the following two years I came third twice at under-23 level. By the time I graduated, I had won three world medals as a junior and under-23 and turned pro, racing full-time for the GB squad.
Looking forward to next year, Tokyo is the big focus. The first few months will see me racing to gain qualification points, hopefully starting in Abu Dhabi on first weekend in March, though it is yet to be scheduled.
The next block of racing will take me to Asia, with a race in Chengdu, then Osaka and one of the Olympic selection races in Yokohama, Japan. Simply, I need to be at my best and battling for podiums if I want to score enough points to hit the British Team’s selection criteria.
It’s going to be challenging but I’m up for it. Obviously, there’s still huge uncertainty about what the year will look like but I have learned a lot this year about how to deal with these times.
posted Tuesday December 29th
by Colston Crawford