Richard Kilty

Richard Kilty is a British Olympic track athlete who has won medals at every major level: Olympic, World, European, and Commonwealth. Richard competes across a range of distances including 60m, 100m 150m and 200m, but is known for his lightning-fast starts and specialises in the 60m event, in which, he has had the most amount of success. Now, as one of Britain’s most decorated sprinters, Richard shares his journey, and how he has tackled adversity, including when he heart-breakingly lost his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal.

Having shown signs to be a promising athlete from a very young age, breaking the aged 12 UK record for 60m, Richard’s talents were nurtured to allow him to become the incredible athlete he is today. It was not all plain sailing for Richard, though, he accomplished this feat whilst living in a homeless hostel with his family after they suffered financial issues. As a junior, he won multiple national school championships and continued to show this dedication, and more, to his training as an adult. In 2008 Richard was named as the captain of Team GB in the IAA World Junior Championships. One year later, during the Athletics Ashes, Richard won the 60m in a time of 6.67 seconds. At the 2011 European U23 Championships Richard would win his first major medal in the 4x100 relay.

In 2012 Richard was not selected to compete for Team GB because of a hamstring injury and his funding was subsequently dropped. His father, he says, is the main reason for his athletics success as he funded much of Richard’s athletics career. 2013 would also prove to be a difficult year for Richard, after failing to qualify for the European Indoor Championships more disappointment would follow as he was replaced by Adam Gemili in the 200m at the World Championships in Moscow. Not letting the disappointment of the previous years stop him from achieving his athletics dreams, Richard would then go on to win the 2014 World Indoor Athletics Championships, setting a new personal best of 6.49 seconds in the 60m. Richard was part of the team that won gold at the 2014 European Championships in the 4x100m relay and then a silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2016 Richard would finally achieve his dream of representing Team GB at the Olympics in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Now as one of the most successful sprinters in GB history having won silver at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha, Richard proves you do not need money to compete at the highest level of sport, just grit and determination. Most recently, Richard managed to win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in the Men's 4x 100m Relay. He now speaks candidly about his setbacks of injury and financial difficulties in his engaging keynote speeches, and how the tools necessary to overcome mental difficulties. Do not miss your chance to hear Richard Kilty speak today.