I won bronze at London 2012 Olympics to make Team GB history… now I work for the Premier League in totally new career
KRISTIAN THOMAS won bronze with Team GB at London 2012 but now works for the Premier League in a completely new role.
The retired gymnast was a part of the history-making quintet which came third in the men’s team all-around 12 years ago.
It was the first time in 100 years Team GB had won an Olympic team medal in gymnastics.
Now 35, Thomas has been a player care and engagement manager for the Premier League since January 2022.
His role sees him offer support to all 20 clubs and their player-care staff to help raise such provision at each club.
He also canvasses player opinions and gives feedback to the Premier League for any potential rule changes.
Discussing his career change, he told Olympics.com in December 2022: “Ultimately sport is sport at the end of the day, and I like to think that what I bring to the role is that knowledge and understanding of what being an elite sportsperson looks like, whether you’re a footballer or a gymnast.
“That exposure and competing under the spotlight and having a goal, a focus, training towards that, it might happen, it might not happen, the bounce-back resilience shown with injuries, setbacks, and so on, that still stays the same.”
As for the impact of his work, he added: “Taking the knee would be a good example.
“Recently the captains decided that instead of doing it every game, they would do it in selected matches instead and hopefully drive the exposure that way.”
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Thomas also works for Commonwealth Games England and the British Olympic Association alongside his Premier League job.
It follows a range of roles including motivational speaker and athlete trainer since retiring from gymnastics.
As well as bronze in London, Thomas was part of the team which finished fourth in Rio in 2016.
He was also a Commonwealth and European champion in the men’s team all-around as well as winning European gold in the floor exercise.
His best Olympic performance in the event saw him place seventh in Rio eight years ago.
It came after he had made more history at the 2013 World Championships with bronze in vault, the first global medal ever won by a British male gymnast in the discipline.