Watch: Gay Olympian Touchingly Expresses the Agony of Defeat
This week British Olympian Tom Bosworth crossed the finish line in the men's 20km walk in 25th place, which was far from his personal best. At the 2016 Olympics, he placed 6th in the same race, after which he proposed to his boyfriend. "The following year, he�set a new world record�in the 1-mile race walk. One month later, however, Bosworth was�disqualified at the World Championships�for technique infractions," OutSports reported.
He took to Twitter to apologize to his fans for his poor performance, touchingly breaking down for feeling he failed them.
"I'm really, really sorry for letting you down," he said. "I can't thank you enough for your messages of support and good luck before the race. It means the world. I'm proud to be a double Olympian, I'm proud to have finished the race, because I wanted to stop. Nothing felt right, but no excuses here. I didn't perform, and it's not good enough."
He continued: "And I will work harder and be back better, stronger, faster in the future. And I will make my country proud and those who supported me day in day out with the sacrifices and the hard work that is required to be an athlete. I want to thank you so much because I couldn't do this on my own without you. Really."
At this point Bosworth begins to get emotional.
"Sport is cool but I know it takes to be at the front of the races. And I hold my head up high because I'm proud that I finished that race. I wasn't anywhere near my best because that wasn't me at my best and not what I wanted for my Olympic Games," he said.
"I really feel like I've let a lot of people down... and that wasn't good enough. It is what I give every single day for and sacrifice so much because I know what it takes to get there and perform and I didn't do any of that this time around," the athlete went on to say. "I will rest up now and we'll come back for more. Because I, I'm not finished with that, that's for sure. So thank you for your support and everything."
In 2019 he told OutSports of his emotional difficulties. "I was in that bubble of failure. I was going out partying and I was pushing my family away. I was treating [my fiancé] Harry awfully. He'd seen me come from a very average athlete to winning races and competing at the highest level. And I treated him the worst of anybody. I didn't realize how far away from me I was getting, how I was digging myself into some awful holes."
The Twittersphere expressed their support for his latest tweet: