Little-known Team GB star leaves Paris Olympics with two medals despite missing final and not being named in squad

A TEAM GB Olympian has left the Paris games with two medals to his name despite not being named in the official squad.

400 metre runner Sam Reardon watched the opening ceremony from his family home after missing the cut for the squad due to an injury hit season.

AFP

Sam Reardon won bronze in the men’s and mixed 400m relay despite watching the opening ceremony from home[/caption]

PA

Reardon won bronze in the mixed 400m relay[/caption]

PA

He also won bronze for the men’s team[/caption]

A hamstring injury meant that he did not even make the final of Britain’s 400m Olympic trials earlier this year.

Reardon was not even ranked in the country’s top 10 for the event but after a massive showing saw him win the 400m at a Diamond League event and knock 1.29 seconds off his personal best he was catapulted to third in the rankings.

Unfortunately for Reardon, this came after the cut-off for the Games and he was left out of the Olympics squad.

That saw him preparing for a summer representing his local club Blackheath and Bromley in the National Athletics League before an unexpected call came from the Olympic team.

After the opening ceremony, runner Charlie Carvell suffered an injury and Reardon was called up as his replacement.

By the end of the first weekend of the Olympics, Reardon helped the 4x400m mixed team to bronze before adding a men’s 4x400m bronze to his name in the Games’ final night.

He told The Telegraph: “It’s been a crazy non-stop journey.

“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.

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“I’m forever a double Olympic medallist. I could end my career here and I’d be happy.”

Poignantly, Reardon won bronze while carrying a photo of his late mother Marilyn in his pocket.

Marilyn was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2018 and died the following year, Reardon said it was always her dream to see him compete at the Olympics.

He said: “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.”