It was a bolt from the blue that felt like gold to Thomas Young.
After winning the T38 100 metres at the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the British sprinter immediately set out to equal – or surpass – the record held by Usain Bolt, who has won three consecutive Olympic titles in the 100 metres.
Young wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I am a huge idol of @usainbolt and strive to achieve what my hero has achieved.” To his surprise, the Jamaican legend responded with the following message: “Anything is possible, don’t think in limits.”
“It meant so much,” Young told Mail Sport three years later. “I remember waking up to my agent calling me to tell me to check my Twitter. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect a message from the big man himself.
‘The Paralympics were incredible, but to get a message from him congratulating me made it even better. It was just as good as my gold medal.’
Thomas Young (pictured above) won the T38 100m at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games
Young’s aim was to equal Usain Bolt’s record of three consecutive 100m titles
A few months after his message from the sprint king, Young met real royalty when he received an MBE from Prince William at Buckingham Palace. “It was a very special day,” said the 24-year-old.
But perhaps the day that topped it all for the Fulham fan was when he was put on display on the pitch at Craven Cottage during half-time of the Championship match against Cardiff.
“Just walking onto the field, it was an incredible night,” Young reflected. “I got a great reception from the crowd. We won too, which made it even better!”
Such experiences exceeded Young’s wildest dreams when, at age 12, he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition in which benign tumors grow along the nerves and affect coordination.
‘Growing up, I couldn’t ride a bike and found it harder to climb trees,’ he explains. ‘I was diagnosed quite randomly, after asking my GP about a mole, which turned out to be a fibroid. The diagnosis answered a lot of questions about why I couldn’t do certain things.
“But I really try not to let it affect my daily life. It’s a condition I’ll always have, but I just get through it – literally. I always say that everyone is born a champion – it’s about finding out what you’re a champion at.”
Young has certainly discovered that. He was already a keen runner before his diagnosis around the time of London 2012. But watching the Olympics and Paralympics on home soil – and the gold medals won by amputee sprinter Jonnie Peacock – inspired him to join his local athletics club in Charnwood in Loughborough, where he moved from Croydon when he was four.
“To have something so close to home that I was passionate about was really the start of something great,” he says. “Every athlete my age looks up to Jonnie and respects what he’s done, because he was only 19 when he won his first gold in London.”
Bolt (pictured above) is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meters relay.
Young wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I am an absolute idol to @usainbolt and just aspire to achieve what my hero has achieved.” To his surprise, the Jamaican legend then responded:
Despite having NF1, Young continued to run against able-bodied athletes until he was 18, without knowing he was eligible to compete in para-athletics. He was only classified in 2018 ahead of that year’s European Championships in Berlin, where he won gold in both the 100m and 200m.
The following year, Young missed out on gold at the world championships in a photo finish after he and Chinese winner Dening Zhu both clocked 11 seconds. But he got revenge on his Paralympic debut in Tokyo at the age of 21, beating Zhu to break the 11-second barrier with a European record of 10.94 seconds.
“In able-bodied sports the sub-10 is iconic, but in para sport the sub-11 time is just as iconic,” he said. “To be only the third athlete to do that in T38 history was amazing.”
Young, who won silver at the most recent world championships in May, lowered his European record to 10.92sec at the London Stadium last month. He now has his sights set on the world record of 10.74sec as he looks to retain his Paralympic title in Paris on Saturday (August 31) and reach the halfway point of his dream of four straight gold medals.
“Tokyo is angry, but now we have Paris, then LA and Brisbane,” says Young, a National Lottery-funded athlete. “If I could get four golds in the T38 100m that would be amazing.
“I am the reigning champion and the one to beat. I believe that if I can put in a good race on the day, I can always win. I really believe that the world record can be mine.”
Young was diagnosed at age 12 with neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition in which non-cancerous tumors grow along the nerves, disrupting coordination.
Young, who is also training to become a sports coach at Loughborough College, is nicknamed ‘The Sockman’ for his love of funky socks. He has worn a Union Jack-themed pair at the last two World Championships and there is a ‘design a sock for Tom’ competition for schoolchildren at the Paralympics, with the winning design being produced.
“My disability may be less visible, but my choice of socks certainly isn’t,” said Young, who is passionate about raising awareness of hidden disabilities like his.
“15 percent of the population actually has some kind of disability and I think some people are quite naive when it comes to the less visible disabilities,” he adds.
“It’s about understanding that people who do have a disability are not idiots, we are normal people. Every disability is different and we shouldn’t be judged solely on our disabilities.”
Thomas Young receives funding from the National Lottery, which raises more than £30 million a week for good causes, including vital funding for sport – from grassroots to elite level.
This will allow him to train full-time, have access to the best coaches in the world and benefit from cutting-edge medical support, which is essential to help him on his road to Paris 2024. For more information, visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk