All images reproduced courtesy of Ben Watson
There are not many people who have had the rare privilege of representing their country on the world stage. There are even fewer who then go on to secure a medal in their chosen discipline. The number of those who manage to win two gold medals at the same games is even smaller still.
Britain’s Ben Watson found himself in this exclusive club when he won double gold at the Paralympics in Tokyo, not only finishing a minute ahead of the competition in the ITT but also securing first place in the road race.
Although Ben's home in the north of England accommodates more gold medals than the average household, he manages to resist the urge to wear them around the house and leaves them nestled safely next to his OBE on the mantelpiece in his living room. But he does admit that for a while they had the added benefit of getting him offered free cake at local cafes.
‘I did get the piss taken out of me for that,’ he jokes, ‘but if I win some more I am definitely doing that again.’
These medals are more than just living room ornaments or symbols of achievement, or even tokens to access free patisserie. They are meant to be shared and to inspire. Ben has spent many hours touring schools to speak to pupils, aiming to pass that inspiration on to the next generation. He hopes that sport will elevate another person’s life like it did his. And there is an unexpected advantage to owning two.
‘On school visits it’s wonderful to see the faces of the children when they see and handle the medals. They are things that are meant to be touched and experienced. And fundamentally every time I hear a clunk accompanied by "Arrgghh I dropped it!" I can reply that it’s absolutely fine. So I kind of have one for best and a demo model, if you like. My mum has already had to fix the ribbon on that one for me,’ he says.
Don't play him at Monopoly
It's more about how you act in defeat than when you are victorious. Especially in cycling, as you are going to lose a lot more than you win; if you are going to get upset, go do something else.
Everyone follows a unique path to becoming a professional athlete. For Ben, it appeared that his future was set with a promising career in chartered surveying ahead of him. That is until a friend encouraged him to attend a talent identification (ID) event with British Cycling.
‘The event went fairly well and I got brought up to the academy in 2016. At the start of 2017 I went to some World Cups to get internationally classified [for the uninitiated, para-cycling has set categories, and you need to get classified by a UCI panel and they only do that at international events] –' he explains. ‘It went quite well; I got a sixth place and a fifth place in the TT and the road race.
‘I funded myself to go to the World Cup later that year and got myself a bronze medal in the TT. That got me selected for GB for the World Champs and I got a silver medal in the TT. This led to a funded place so I made the decision to give up my job and go full-time in 2018. It’s gone downhill in World Championships since then,’ he laughs.
Ben's passion for racing on the road is undeniable. However, his first love takes him away from the smooth asphalt and onto rough and challenging paths. Following a serious illness which he experienced as a child, he developed a love for mountain biking. At the age of 14, Ben was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a condition that attacks the nervous system. This resulted in a prolonged hospital stay and left him with weakness in his wrists and hands, and no strength below his knees. During his recovery at age 16, a friend gifted him a mountain bike, sparking a deep affinity for the sport.
‘I raced mountain bikes all through university. And in my spare time, I do mountain biking and a bit of gravel. I’m hoping to do some mountain biking and gravel racing next season. I tone down the amount of mountain biking I do going into competition as it's just not worth the risk. I crashed a couple of years ago before a World Cup in Canada and it took all the skin off my forearms. I had to race the TT in bandages and it wasn’t particularly pleasant.
‘There is no para-mountain biking at the moment, people are pushing for it and if it comes I’ll definitely do it, but at the moment the only options are road and track. I did Track for GB up until 2019, then I made the decision to go road only.’
The decision to focus solely on road cycling was driven by results. Despite his efforts, Ben wasn’t seeing the results he desired on the track. So he made the choice to leave that side of the sport to his teammates, who it suited better. He found it difficult to find enjoyment in an area of the sport where he could not be competitive.
This competitive edge isn’t just restricted to life on the bike, but seeps into everyday life too. Do not challenge him to a game of Monopoly and expect him to take it easy on you.
‘I said to my mate that I don’t think I'm that competitive and he said, "mate you are the most competitive person I have ever met." My partner is competitive as well so when it comes to games there have been times when we have had to have cooling down periods,’ he jokes.
But it's in discussing his will to win that Ben’s pragmatic attitude shines through.
‘I'm not obsessed with winning. And I don’t hate losing. Life is about losing. It's more about how you act in defeat than you do when you are victorious. Especially in cycling as you are going to lose a lot more than you win, if you are going to get upset, go do something else. It’s not a team sport where it's win, lose, or draw. It is mostly lose.’
A pop-up greenhouse, a heater, and a europop soundtrack
'Once during lockdown, I found myself riding past someone doing an effort singing Mulan "We will make a man out of you" quite loudly. Not sure I’ll ever live that down.’
The life of a professional cyclist is filled with challenges beyond just the scarcity of results. Initially, Ben - a self-proclaimed social animal - struggled with the solitude of spending hours training and adapting to the dietary restrictions that meant he couldn't indulge his love of wine and cheese. However, he chose to shift his mindset and view these changes as choices rather than sacrifices. Through his choices, Ben has had the privilege of representing his country, something he had never imagined possible as a child.
‘I use the word choices rather than sacrifices. So I have made the choice to cut out all the wine and cheese before going into the Olympic games or Worlds because of the gravitas of the event. I’m still enjoying a bit of French bread, and the bread is bloody good. It's not a romantic life being a professional athlete,’ he jokes. ‘But it’s a different way of looking at it. I'm not making a sacrifice, I'm making a choice.’
This mature approach to training involves knowing himself thoroughly, both mentally and physically, and doing whatever is necessary to deliver a peak performance. This may involve self-funding a training trip to Spain while the rest of the team is in Manchester at the velodrome or setting up a makeshift heat tent in his garden, using a pop-up greenhouse, heater, humidifier, and europop soundtrack, much to the amusement of his neighbours.
‘This camp in Spain I have funded myself, the others are in Manchester. I had the option to go but I felt it best for me to come out here and get another heat block, I get more out of it doing this. Maybe being a bit older and a bit more experienced possibly helps. I’m not only there to compete, and I'm incredibly competitive. I'm also there to enjoy myself.
‘I’m in this hugely privileged position to represent my country and have this thing that I enjoy as a hobby, as my job - that’s something that should be enjoyed. I know once I get to the start line I will be on it. And I will do my absolute best that I can do and the result will be what it will be.’
He knows from experience that even with the best training, preparation, and attitude, not everything will always go as planned. He is hoping for a better experience in Zürich than he had at the Glasgow Worlds in 2023. For Ben, the silver lining at the Scottish event was the plush highland cows. Not even the professionals were immune to their allure of the cuteness of that cow.
‘[I was] a bit disappointed by the bronze, to be honest. I probably could have raced smarter but the course wasn’t hard enough for me to put the effort in to hurt other riders. And once I realised I was riding for bronze, I rolled the dice a few times, and tried a couple of things which on reflection I could have done a little bit differently. But the result might have been the same. Though getting on the podium was cool, the cows were very cool. And on the TT I was just shit. I had a bad day. It happens.’
The para-cyclists will ride the same roads as the rest of the riders at the Zürich World Championships, on a technical course which may offer Ben a better opportunity to secure the title which is currently missing from his impressive collection.
‘The only thing I haven’t done is win the World title, so that’s a big goal for me. The Zürich course is super hard so it is the best chance to give me that opportunity. And we are doing the same as the A/B guys, and the schedules are all integrated. That’s proper integration. ’
During the rare moments when Ben has time off from training, you are more likely to find him playing computer games or reading, rather than watching TV. His love of history and learning is evident in the guests he would invite to his fantasy dinner table: Alan Turing, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Archimedes, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Stephen Fry (as the mediator) if you are interested.
Or you might find him in the kitchen, cooking to his own interpretation of relaxing cooking music—heavy metal.
‘My music taste is really eclectic, I like a bit of everything. Don’t touch my clogs by OCT is currently one of my favourites. I like euro techno, rave, heavy metal, Eskimo Cool Boy, classical, some indie pop, to Ed Sheeran,' he shares. ‘I listen to whatever, depending on my mood. But the heat tent is pure euro vibes, Tomorrowland sort of stuff. Oh and once during lockdown, I did find myself riding past someone doing an effort singing Mulan "We will make a man out of you" quite loudly. Not sure I’ll ever live that down.’
Beyond the World Championships, he has ambitions that this is the year that he and his partner will get their first puppy.
‘We are going to get a dog in the next couple of months, hopefully a German shorthaired pointer. I've never had one before, but always wanted one. It’s the aim for the next 6 to 12 months. Oh and I guess now I’ve said it, it's in official print, I’m held to it.’ He laughs.
*
Unfortunately for Ben personally, Paris didn’t quite pan out as he had hoped. In the ITT, just 1.55 seconds separated him from the podium.
He said on instagram after the race: ‘So close to the podium in the MC3 TT at the Paralympics. For now, I’m pretty gutted but beaten by better riders on the day and gave it everything I could.’
And while Team GB celebrated Gold in the road race with his teammate, Fin Graham. For Ben, it wasn't to be a repeat of Tokyo:
From receiving his first red Raleigh bike at the age of four, to winning Olympic gold on the other side of the world, cycling has taken Ben’s life on an unexpected path, giving him incredible experiences in the hundreds of kilometres he has covered along the way. Here’s hoping that his journey has a rainbow or two in it in the near future.
Member discussion