Britain’s fastest man, James Dasaolu, was amongst a host of top athletes who hot-footed their way to a quiet village in Oxfordshire this week to see their Team GB physio show off his latest ‘move’

 

AS most of us watched awe-struck as the London 2012 Olympic Games burst from our television screens last year, Gordon Bosworth was in the thick of the action at the Olympic Stadium.

He was making sure Team GB’s 77 stars of track and field went up against the competition in tip-top condition.

As British Athletics’ chief physiotherapist, Mr Bosworth, 59, from Cholsey near Wallingford, headed up a team of 10 specialists, on-hand both trackside and in the Olympic Village, to make sure athletes including Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis were in the best condition they could be, going onto and coming off the field.

And on Tuesday evening stars from the sports world, including Britain’s fastest man, James Dasaolu, turned up to give Mr Bosworth their support as he opened his own private sports physio clinic in Cassington.

Mr Bosworth, now a veteran of five Olympic Games and a grandfather-of-one said: “London 2012 was an awesome experience, possibly the best Olympics ever and I felt an amazing sense of pride in my country while I was there, almost as if my heart was jumping out of my chest.

“The buzz at the stadium was impossible to put into words, but for my team and I the job was to remain focused on supporting the athletes and their coaches at all times.

“You treat athletes much as you would a Formula 1 engine; fine tuning them before a race, making sure their muscle patterns are firing and that that there are no muscle tensions, and then recovery work on them after their event.”

Distance runner Mo Farah, heptathlete Jessica Ennis, and long jumper Greg Rutherford are among people he has helped with recovery. He said: “When the Games were over I started looking ahead to the next season and Rio 2016 and realised I am not getting any younger and needed to start thinking about what I want to do.”

Mr Bosworth knows what it is like to live and breathe sport.

Born in Leicester on March 24, 1959, he played an incredible seven sports at county level, including hockey for England Schools and England U23s.

He went on to serve in the Royal Air Force between 1976 to 1992 as a physical education officer and later trained as a physiotherapist before becoming the senior governing body physiotherapist to the British Bobsleigh and Bob-Skeleton team from 1996 to 2006.

He was a member of the GB teams at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan (1998), Salt Lake City, USA, (2002) and Torino, Italy (2006).

In 2010 he attended the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games as head of physiotherapy for the Canadian long track speed skating team, where they won 10 medals, four gold, four silver and two bronze.

He has also acted as a physio for top football clubs including Premier league giants Liverpool, Wigan and Bolton Wanderers.

It’s thumbs-up from the fastest man in Britain

Client James Dasaolu, 26, pictured, was this year crowned the fastest Briton on British soil after recording an incredible 9.91-second 100m sprint.

After years of injury he was finally fit enough to compete at the World Championships in Moscow this summer and made history by lining up in the 100m final against the greatest sprinters in the world.

He said: “I’ve been plagued by injuries such as torn muscles throughout my career but in 2011 I started working with Gordon.

“He has this ability to instantly see what is wrong, and he is a brilliant problem solver.”

But while the clinic will be keeping him busy, he hasn’t ruled out further Olympic appearances just yet.

He said: “The Canadians have been in contact about the Winter Games in 2015 and I’ve got to say - it’s pretty tempting.”