Hopes for boost in South Yorkshire sport from Rio Olympics
As South Yorkshire Olympians prepare to walk out for the opening ceremony in Rio tonight, there are hopes the games will boost sport back here.
As South Yorkshire Olympians prepare to walk out for the opening ceremony in Rio tonight, there are hopes the games will boost sport back here.
The Olympics gets underway in the MaracanĂŁ Stadium later, with 10 athletes from our county set to compete over the next two weeks.
One of them's Sheffield gymnast Bryony Page - her coach Paul Greaves told Hallam he's hoping more people take up the sport after seeing her compete:
"The Olympics in the biggest show in the world in terms of sport and it's a phenomenal opportunity for people to start getting involved and for clubs to start opening their doors as well."
"People will see that we've got so many top athletes training in the city - that actually they could be training alongside those athletes, training alongside Olympians. And that's motivation in itself for people to take part in physical activity and sport."
South Yorkshire's representatives include big names like the poster-girl of the London games Jess Ennis-Hill who'll be going for gold in the heptathlon as well as golfer Danny Willetts.
But there are also lesser known athletes like Max Litchfield and Eleanor Faulkner from the City of Sheffield Swim Squad.
Bryony Page's coach Paul says the South Yorkshire athletes stand a good chance:
- "In an Olympic games, anything can happen. We are good at sport in Sheffield, we have amazing facilities across the city. I think the chances are so strong this year - there was a complete mission to actually go back to an Olympics once we've hosted one to maintain our place or improve on the results."*
With so many athletes from our county, sport professionals are hoping to take advantage of Olympic-fever to encourage more people to start sport themselves.
David Bly is the Engagement Officer at SIV who own facilities in Sheffield like the English Institute of Sport - the training venue for many Team GB athletes.
He says they've made a huge impact on participation:
"The athletes are so important - they are role models. We are so fortunate in that we have elite athletes operating next to community activities and they really inspire the children and the next generation."
"The children are wowed by being able to partake in sport next to Jess Ennis and Anthony Joshua and all the other fantastic athletes. You can't really beat being able to participate next to some of the best athletes in the world - we are very fortunate to have that."
"For the next month sport will be on the cusp of everyone's lips. It's an opportunity we thrive on - making our venues as accessible as possible to all parts of the community and interact with the future generation to get them involved in sport."