Olympics: From Leeds born athletes to the cities training facilities- how we shaped the GB team
The city is home to several GB Olympians
It's an exciting day in Leeds, as our athletes are set to compete in the Olympic games in Tokyo!
From great athletes like Jonny Brownlee to facilities like the John Charles Centre for sport, the city has definitely had an impact on the 2020 games.
We caught up with Brownlee's swim coach, she said:
"Triathlon is probably one of the biggest sports in Yorkshire, that's got to have something to do with the fact that you've got Alister and Jonny in the area, the boys have built a massive triathlon centre, they're inspiring, you know, the legacy they've created has been huge."
Leeds Beckett University have left their mark on the games too.
They've helped prepare and support Team GB’s Olympians, with 18 athletes from the University set to compete in Tokyo.
The Carnegie School of Sport has offered its world-class facilities and expertise to athletes in preparation for the Games, including use of the School’s performance analysis suites and extreme environmental chambers.
Dr Andrew Manley, Principal Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology at Carnegie School of Sport, said:
"Our university is blessed with some fantastic facilities that allow us to replicate the environments in Tokyo, the athletes can get a glimpse of what that's like and use that to inform their training and conditioning."
He told us they've coached athletes on how to deal with the uncertainty of things like covid:
"There's only so much you can actually truly control, so actually taking the uncertainty out of it, by just focusing on the things that are directly under your control, is as good a way of looking at things as you can, and then whatever else comes, there's no point worrying about it, because you can't effect it anyway."
Cllr Salma Arif, the cabinet member for public health and active lifestyle at Leeds City Council said:
"They really inspire people to take part in sport, there's such a buzz around the Olympics which is always great.
"It will help the younger generations and we really need to push on that, particularly in a covid world, where we've had lots of people not able to be as active as they should of been, I think it's really exciting and it will definitely inspire our younger generations."