Little-known Team GB member won two medals at Paris Olympics despite not being named in official squad
One very special Team GB athlete has enjoyed a summer of us most could only dream of.
Sam Reardon from Beckenham watched the Paris opening ceremony from home after narrowly missing out on being part of the track and athletics team.
A injury-hit season meant his form wasn't enough for a place at the Olympics but little did he know that was all about to change.
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A hamstring tear meant that he did not make the final of Britain's 400m Olympic trials earlier this year, ending any hopes of a spot in Paris.
Having then missed the cut off for this summer's Games, he was left out of the squad all together.
However, days after the summer tournament began, runner Charlie Carvell suffered an injury and Reardon was called up as his replacement.
Fast forward to the the first weekend of the Olympics, Reardon helped the 4x400m mixed team to bronze before adding a men's 4x400m bronze to his name on the final evening.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the 20-year-old described a whirlwind period in his career.
“It’s been a crazy non-stop journey," he began.
"It’s all come at me at 200mph but I’ve tried to soak it up: running sub-45 for the first time, then getting to the Olympic, getting a run, winning a medal and then winning another one.
“I’m forever a double Olympic medallist.
"I could end my career here and I’d be happy.”
The heartwarming story does not stop there, with Reardon admitting his mother Marilyn was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2018 and died the following year.
Her dream was to see him compete at the Olympics and added how everything he now does is in her memory.
"Watching London 2012, I said I wanted to become an Olympian. She never doubted that I would make it here.
“I remember her jumping up and down on Super Saturday cheering on the Brits.
"She was a very loud supporter – always the loudest when she came to watch my track meets.
“She always said it would be just as much her dream to see me on the Olympic stage, and her life would be complete if she could see me standing on the top of the podium one day singing the national anthem.
"That’s the ultimate goal – to one day stand there and sing the national anthem for her.
"But we’re going in the right direction. It meant the world to have her support.
"She was my best friend, biggest motivator and inspiration.”
Matthew Holt