Cowley has said he was inspired when rival Australian race-walker Jared Tallent was awarded his gold medal for the 50 kilometres walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in 2016 after Sergey Kirdyapkin was disqualified for doping. He said; "I’m looking forward to going to the Treasury steps and watching Jarred get his medal. For so long, we’ve known there was something wrong with the Russian system. There’s been so many failed tests."