Tommy Godwin

Thomas Charles Godwin (5 November 1920 – 3 November 2012) was a British track cyclist, active during the 1940s and 1950s. He held national records and raced abroad. He later became a coach, manager, and administrator.

In 2010 he was selected as an ambassador for the 2012 London Olympics. In 2012, aged 91, he was selected to take part in the Olympic torch relay, carrying it through Solihull.

Origins Godwin was born in Connecticut, United States to British parents in 1920. The family returned to Britain in 1932. His first bicycle was a Wrenson's delivery bike which he used to run errands for a local grocer. He became interested in cycling because of the 1936 Summer Olympics. Arie van Vliet's riding in the 1,000-metre time-trial inspired him; British amateur champion W. W. Maxfield was also an early hero.

He came third in the 1,000m at the 1950 British Empire Games.

Career after racing Godwin managed the British cycling team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, became president of the British Cycling Federation and the Solihull Cycling Club. He ran the first British training camp in Mallorca, Spain, He was Britain's first paid national coach His autobiography It Wasn't That Easy: The Tommy Godwin Story was published in 2007 by John Pinkerton Memorial Publishing Fund. He was president of Solihull Cycling Club. His wife, Eileen, died on 5 January 2011.

2012 Summer Olympics Godwin was an ambassador for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. On 27 July 2010 he appeared on the BBC One programme "London 2012: Two Years to Go", praising the new velodrome taking shape. He was interviewed by BBC presenter Sophie Raworth and showed his two Olympic bronze medals.

When aged 91 he was selected to participate in the Olympic Torch relay, to carry it on a 300-metre leg through Solihull on 1 July 2012.

Godwin died at the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull on 3 November 2012.