Jim Horton's long journey from living in Walsall to representing the Falkland Islands

For Jim Horton, the Commonwealth Games time trial promises to be both a step into the unknown and a trip down memory lane.

That’s because the 46-year-old, who will make history as the first cyclist to ever compete for the Falkland Islands, is originally from Walsall.

“It’s pretty crazy really, when you think about it, isn’t it?” he smiles. “My friends and family are all coming to support me and they can hardly believe it. I think it is very surreal for them.

“But I have been training for this for so long, I have just kind of accepted it. I’m looking forward to it so much. I’m going to have the most fun.”

The story of how the former St Mary’s Grammar pupil to represent the South Atlantic outpost in international sport is essentially one of profession and passion.

It was Horton’s work as an immigration professional which eventually saw him move to the Falkland Islands, together with wife Debbie and their four children, via stays in Paris, Warsaw and the Ascension Islands.

His love of cycling, meanwhile, first nurtured as a child when he used to ride his BMX near the family home on Jesson Road, has in the last decade developed into something of an obsession.

“It was about 10 years ago I started to become really serious about it,” he says. “I got a new bike and became quite obsessive.

“I trained hard, which was easy to do around Ascension. It is the same in the Falkland Islands, you just need more layers because of the wind. It is very strong! Until you go, you can’t appreciate how windy it is.

“But it is great for cyclists, a fantastic place to ride a bike. There’s no traffic, no traffic lights, no roundabouts. It’s the open road.”

Cycling at the Commonwealth Games is an open event with no qualifying time and Horton even looked into the possibility of competing for Ascension on the Gold Coast four years ago.

“It just wasn’t the right time,” he explains. “But I always had it in mind, as soon as we moved to the Falklands, simply because it is possible.

“If you are good, if you are the best in the country, you can come to something like this. It is amazing, a unique opportunity. I always planned for this. To be honest, I have been training for it since we moved.”

And so, here he is, one of 16 athletes representing the Islands – which have a population of around 3,000 – at Birmingham 2022, the others competing in badminton, table tennis and lawn bowls.

Horton, who is also a keen golfer, is president of the Islands lawn bowls club and so will be keeping a keen eye on the latter’s progress.

“The Falkland Islands are very sporty,” he explains.

“It is what brings everyone together. It is a remote place but very friendly place. It is a small population, too, so everyone knows each other’s business.”

To describe Horton’s own challenge as David versus Goliath would probably be underselling it. Other than the cycling leg in an occasional triathlon, he has never previously competed in a race.

Though his bike, bought with the help of a grant from the Commonwealth Games Foundation could hardly be described as cheap, it pales into comparison to the state-of-the-art equipment used by many of his competitors. The clothing and aero helmet he purchased himself, along with spare wheels in case of a puncture.

And while former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has the aid of a wind tunnel to perfect his preparations, Horton’s training has largely been restricted to the Islands’ 35km stretch of recently tarmacked road which links Stanley with Mount Pleasant. In recent months, he hasn’t even had that, due to the season being better suited to penguins than people.

“I have been training in the gym mostly the last few months because of the weather,” he says. “It’s currently winter in the Falklands and they had to de-ice the plane before we took off.

“But I’ve done everything I can. Time trial is about suffering, getting into an uncomfortable position and maintaining the power you put down. It hurts.

“I’ve always been good at endurance sports. At school I was a cross country runner. I’ve always had the ability to suffer and keep going.”

“Jim is so passionate, I don’t need to tell him anything. All I needed to do was get him race fit,” adds Simon Fenton, who struck up a friendship with Horton after meeting him on the roads of Falklands and is his team manager at the Games.

“All his race training, he does on his own. To be passionate about a sport like Jim is, this is a huge reward.”

One advantage Horton will have over his rivals is knowing the roads, even if last week’s first reconnaissance of the course, which starts and finishes in Wolverhampton’s West Park, proved something of a shock.

“I’d forgotten how busy the roads are round here,” he laughs. “I had not really ridden in traffic since we were in Warsaw, so it takes a bit of getting used to. It is difficult to train. I used to go to Wolverhampton on nights out, so I know it well, Sedgley too. It was all very familiar. I said to Simon: ‘I have been here many times before’. It was all coming back.

“One thing I had forgotten is just how hilly the Black Country is. Time trial courses are usually flat and this one isn’t. Going down Moden Hill, if it’s wet, could be fun.”

If there is one disappointment for Horton, it is that his parents Alan and Josie are no longer around to see him compete. This is the first time he has been back in the UK since his father passed away in 2019.

“I think they would have been blown away by this,” he says.

Aunty Jill and Uncle Steve, who he reveals regularly send him copies of the Express & Star, will be on the roadside, together with a healthy contingent of friends, including several former colleagues from 3rd Walsall Scouts.

Debbie works as a teacher and with schools on the Falklands not breaking up until late August, she and the kids will watch his big moment on television, before coming to join him in the UK for a holiday later.

After competing in Thursday’s time trial, Horton will also enter next Sunday’s road race, which starts and finishes in Warwick. Because, why not?

“The time trial is my priority but while I’m here, I’m going to do the road race too,” he says. “I’ll be racing with people like Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish. It is once-in-a-lifetime stuff. The kids think it is amazing, incredible. I think a lot of my family are dumbstruck.

“It’s funny because a lot of friends in the Falklands have said bad luck, you could have got a Games in Australia or Canada!

“But I haven’t been home for three years. It does feel like a home Games for me and I am very glad it is in Brum. I’m very proud to be from Walsall. I would rather be here than anywhere else.”