Notts table tennis hopeful ready for ‘amazing’ Rio adventure
Video: Sam Walker talks about his hopes for Rio on Sports Week
Nottinghamshire table tennis star Sam Walker says a shock bronze medal at the World Championships could mean team GB springs a surprise at the Olympics.
Walker, 21, was part of an England side which wowed the World Team Championships in Malaysia in March.
It was the country’s first medal at that level of the sport since 1983 and the highlight of his career.
Walker told Notts TV’s Sports Week his fellow table tennis stars now hope to carry on their wave of momentum.
Sam, from Worksop, said: “It’s a dream of anybody’s to do well at a world championships.
“It’s a massive boost going in to the Olympics. If we hadn’t have got that success in the World’s I’m not sure we would have even qualified for the Olympics
“We believe we can go on and have success in Rio
“We’ve all improved our international rankings this season as well – we’re confident as but focussed on what we want to achieve.”
And he revealed the original hope was not Rio – but Tokyo.
My realistic goal was 2020
“My realistic goal was 2020, but because of our performance at worlds we managed to squeeze into the Olympics this year.
“It was quite special to qualify. We had a lot of time waiting for that message and once you get confirmation it was like ‘let’s celebrate’
“I’m more excited than anything else – the build up is really amazing. It will be such an experience to be around top athletes and the village.”
For more from Sam Walker and sport from across Nottinghamshire watch Sports Week on Notts TV from 7.30pm on Freeview channel 7, Sky 117, Virgin 159.
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