Tim Thorn

Tim Thorn won a bronze medal in the four-man bob at the 1968 European Championships at Sankt Moritz (St. Moritz). Just weeks later the same four of Thorn, Mike Freeman, John Blockley, and John Brown took part in the Grenoble Winter Olympics but without success. All four crew members were serving in the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the time.

Thorn, nicknamed “Tiger”, was born in Sudan, where his father was working as an engineer, but was educated at Ipswich School in England between 1943-61 before joining the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a cadet at Cranwell College. Thorn excelled at both cricket and rugby at school and would later represent the RAF at both sports. In an RAF career lasting more than 30 years, Thorn achieved the rank of air commodore and, over the years, was awarded several honours including, in 1982, the prestigious Air Force Cross. In 1986 Thorn took over as the commander of the flying training school at RAF Cranwell.

After leaving the RAF, Thorn was appointed head of security at the famous diamond company De Beers and was their head at the time of the infamous London Millenium Dome diamond heist in 2000 that was made into several documentaries and movies. Thorn stayed with De Beers until 2005 when he set up his own Security Consultancy Company. He eventually retired in 2019 when he indulged in another sporting passion, golf.