Team GB star eyeing Para Athletics treble after message from Usain Bolt

08 July 2023 , 06:00

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Thomas Young will compete in the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris on Sunday (Image: Getty Images)

Great Britain's Thomas Young will bid to complete the Para Athletics 'treble' when he lines up at the World Championships in Paris on Sunday.

Young, 22, can wrap up all three major titles with victory in the highly competitive T38 100m at Stade Charlety - two years since winning gold at the Paralympics. The Leicestershire-based athlete, who won his first European gold in 2018, claimed silver at the World Championships in Dubai four years ago, narrowly losing out in a photo-finish to China's Zhu Dening.

However, Young is hoping to go one better this time around. After missing out on the Commonwealth Games 12 months ago due to an injury from a fall, Young is eager to get back to winning ways on the world stage - and is more motivated than ever to claim gold.

Speaking exclusively to Mirror Sport, Young said: "Preparations have been really good. I had to deal with an injury from a fall last year and to get me back on track quickly has been brilliant. I can't wait to compete in the World Championships now. I am looking forward to being on the start line in what's going to be an unbelievable race.

"The previous worlds in 2019 was actually the last time I competed in a major championships in front of an audience. Of course I won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 but to win a global Gold in front of an audience, and in particular my family, is the dream. With Paris being so close it is almost a home champs.

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"I have been to Paris twice to compete in the IPC Grand Prix and they have both been really good events. I think Paris and the French Athletics Federation over there do a good job of promoting para sport.

"To go there to an actual major championship is really exciting. Especially almost a year to go to Paris 2024. Hopefully we can use this platform to springboard interest in the Paralympics next year, get some big crowds in the stadium and everyone can have a good great experience."

Thomas Young has previously won gold at the European Championships and the Paralympics (Getty Images)

It's safe to say Young has had a whirlwind decade in the sport since he was told he had Neurofibromatosis Type 1 - a genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along the nerve system. However, Young wasn't aware he was able to compete in the T38 classification until just six years ago.

In his first major event in 2018, Young cruised to European gold, before travelling to Dubai for his first World Championships a year later. Although the Croydon-born sprinter was pipped on the line to second, he took pride from that achievement and has learnt from the experience.

"I look back to 2019 and I can see where it went wrong and where I could have improved myself to win that race when I was 19," Young said. "That's what made me win the Paralympics in Tokyo as me and my coach had the extra year to really focus on where my race didn't go perfectly in Dubai.

"I think I have learnt a lot so I can run better. The motivation is there to upgrade my silver to a gold and it's really exciting."

Young is now eyeing up a World Championship gold medal (Getty Images)

Young had to wait until 2021 to compete in his next major event after the Paralympics in Tokyo was pushed back a year due to Covid-19. But the two-time European champion took the extra 12 months in his stride to work hard to be in the best possible condition to win gold.

Young beat hefty competition from Dening, Australia's Evan O'Hanlon and France's Dimitri Jozwicki to claim a historic first gold, clocking an impeccable time of 10.94 in the process. Reflecting on that achievement, Young said: "Of course we had the Covid to deal with, but to fly out to Tokyo after the uncertainty of whether it will happen or not happen and then to go and win gold was really good."

After winning the Paralympic gold medal, Young received a message of congratulations from his hero, Usain Bolt, as the Jamaican sprint legend recognised his success. In reply to a tweet from Young, Bolt replied: "Anything is Possible Don't think Limit." Later that year, Young was also handed an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for his services to athletics.

Young poses with his medal after being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 (Getty Images)

Following those accolades, 2022 proved to be a tough one for Young. He suffered a injury from a fall at the end of a race a few weeks out from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which ruled him out of the competition and delayed his bid for the grand slam of T38 100m global medals.

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That was a frustrating experience for Young. "I think to get so close to the Commonwealth Games that I had prepared towards for four years, to have it cruelly snatched away from me was gutting to be honest," he said. "I went away and worked really hard to get injury-free. Me and my support team back in Loughborough managed my injury perfectly and that’s why I have started to run quickly this season."

Young goes into Sunday's heat aiming to reach the final on Monday, with Dening and O'Hanlon amongst his fiercest competitors in the French capital.

Kieran King