Team GB‘s Thomas Digby has penned a heartbreaking message about losing his mother to cancer on the build up to one of the most important moment’s in his rowing career — bringing home gold in the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

The 26-year-old, from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, spoke candidly today about the loss of his mother and the time he spent away from home while she battled her illness. 

Reflecting on his Olympic win ahead of the New Year, Thomas suggested that while many people expected his triumph to be an ‘ecstatic feeling’, it was more melancholic for him.

Taking to Instagram, he wrote: ‘There were so many moments over the course of losing Mum that I wondered whether I should quit – whether I was capable of being good enough whilst under the stress. 

‘Whether it was worth missing more of the precious time we had. 

‘I was in Sierra Nevada, the toughest altitude camp of the year, when I got the final call to come home. I could have been at home.’

However, further down his post, Thomas explains how he saw the Olympics experience through because it is what both his mother and father would have wanted – and that she ‘laid down a pretty high bar for stepping up to the challenge’.

Thomas’ mother passed away on December 4 last year.

The Team GB rower would watch the world-renowned Regatta with his family every year and even went on to win four times at the prestigious event. 

Thomas joined the GB Rowing team in 2021 around the same time his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

She was an invaluable source of support to Thomas and watched him become a double world champion before she passed away. 

Thomas explained how it was ‘glorified in our culture’ to ‘persevere’ through life’s personal challenges, as that is what ‘champions’ do. 

But, as someone who did that, Thomas admitted it was ‘not always the right choice’.

‘I believe it is far harder to be there at every moment for someone, to see their weaknesses and fears constantly, and to put your own needs aside, he added. 

‘You make the hard choices, and at the end of it all, no one thanks you, gives you a medal (literally), or even makes you feel seen.’

He went on to say how ‘throwing his emotion into rowing’, although incredibly difficult, was somewhat easier for him.  

‘I say this as a memo of respect for all those who don’t feel seen, have suffered at the hands of terminal illness of a loved one, and feel more isolated from the world on the other side of it,’ he said.

‘To care in that way for someone you love is one of the biggest ways you can step up in life.’

Thomas was part of the men’s eight who stormed to gold at Paris 2024, to bring Team GB’s rowing tally to eight medals. 

Fellow rower Rory Gibbs said at the time: ”My ears are popping, my senses are all shot. You’re so numb that you don’t really know what’s going on and you don’t really care what’s going on. 

‘The men’s eight is such a powerful boat and you work as one machine. Everyone cycles in and out with a bit of an adrenaline rush. 

‘For me, with 500 metres to go, I smelt blood and was really cooking. But 250 metres later I was completely gone. You grind to a halt. It’s quite a euphoric feeling.’