A former Sittingbourne schoolboy is vowing to fight on despite a setback to his Olympic dreams.

Race walker Cameron Corbishley has not been picked to compete in the 50k in the postponed Tokyo Games this summer - but plans to appeal the decision.

If that is unsuccessful, Corbishley, who attended Fulston Manor School, hopes to qualify for the 20k event.

He said: “My plan of attack with qualifying for the Olympics is to try and get in through the appeals process.

“Athletes have done that in the past but, obviously, it’s not how I originally planned it. But you have to deal with the cards you are dealt.

“If I’m unsuccessful, it will be disappointing. But then with the rest of the season, I will look at qualifying in the 20k.

“I have not raced in the 20k since 2019 but I know my training has improved and so I think my performances would have improved since then as well.”

Corbishley is 41st in the world rankings for the sport. His best 50k walk time this year is 3:54:15, just shy of the 3:50:00 target for automatic qualification.

But only three athletes from each country can go through to the Games, which runs from July 23 to August 8.

Aged 24, he believes being selected now would help to put him into a position to compete for a medal at a future Olympics.

Sarah Palmer, Fulston Manor events and publicity manager, said: “We are all so proud of Cameron and his sporting achievements.

“He was always an excellent sportsman when he was at school and it's no surprise that he is doing so well. We are all keeping everything crossed that Cam will be chosen to participate in Tokyo but he is still very young, so will always have opportunities in the future.”

Corbishley, who works as a call handler for the ambulance service in Cardiff, added: “It’s nice to know that, even though I left the school a few years ago, they are still following me.”

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