Kilty announces retirement from athletics

GB & NI’s very own ‘Teesside Tornado’ Richard Kilty is hanging up his spikes after an athletics career that has seen him become a world and European champion, as well as an Olympic medallist.

The 35-year-old has won medals at every major championships, indoors and out and will be remembered as one of the fastest starters Britain has ever produced, leading to great success over 60 metres. He has also demonstrated huge value to the relay programme, contributing to podium appearances time and again.

Kilty’s biggest achievement was undoubtedly at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Poland, in the seaside city of Sopot. Having initially looked set to miss out on selection, Kilty got a chance in the 60m when James Dasaolu was forced to withdraw through injury.

In his first senior major individual competition, Kilty seized that opportunity with both hands and in a huge upset, he set personal bests in the heats, semi-finals and final, winning a sensational gold in a time of 6.49 in the closest race in the history of the competition, with a tenth of a second separating the entire field.

Kilty enjoyed further success in 2014 as he was part of the British team that won 4x100m relay gold at the European Championships in Zurich, as well as winning a Commonwealth silver medal with England..

His lightning quick reaction times helped Kilty to continue to dominate over 60m for the next few years, winning back-to-back European titles in 2015 and 2017 to go with his global title.

Outdoors, Kilty started to enjoy more success as a valued member of the relay programme, including a World Championships silver medal alongside Adam Gemili, Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in 2019 in Doha over the 4x100m. Their time of 37.36 still stands as the GB & NI record and is 6th fastest of all time.

Having made his Olympic debut in Rio in 2016, Kilty was again part of Team GB in Tokyo, initially earning a silver medal in the 4x100m which was later removed from the team. However in an almost fairy-tale-esque comeback story, Kilty battled back from injuries to appear at his third Olympics in Paris last summer and was part of the 4x100m relay team that won bronze.

Kilty featured in the heats, helping Team GB earn automatic qualification for the final despite tearing his Achilles tendon. Replaced by Hughes in the line-up for the final, he watched as Jeremiah Azu, Mitchell-Blake and Louie Hinchliffe brought home the bronze medal and restored his place as an Olympic medallist.

‼️ Kept This one Quiet the last few weeks. Racing At the Olympic Games I TORE MY ACHILLES in the heats, didn’t want to make a fuss about it as I wanted to celebrate with my team mates winning our bronze medal. I suffered for months with my Achilles this year before finally… pic.twitter.com/IWgzmDu3NF

— Richard Kilty (@RKilty1) September 23, 2024

At the Games, Kilty roomed with rising star Hinchliffe, and has since begun coaching the 22-year-old, and now oversees a promising group of young sprinters as he continues to give back to the sport.

Now focusing on coaching full-time, the Teesside Tornado might be bringing down the curtain on a remarkable career on the track, but his athletics legacy still has a long way to run.