With only about six months to go until the Beijing 2008 Games kick-off, my training to qualify is starting to pick up pace. But it was great to take some time out this week to meet all of the schoolchildren that reached the final of the 2012 ‘VeloDream’ schools design competition.
This competition was their chance to design their own dream cycling venues for a future Games and all of the schools I met deserved to reach the finals of the competition for the imagination and hard work that had gone into their design entries.
My visit to the VeloDream finals:
Any athlete will tell you that you can have huge ability and talent but you need the right venues and facilities to reach your best so it was great to see some of the ideas for cycling venues of the future that schoolchildren from around the country had dreamt up. All of the kids had picked up that well-designed venues can play an important role in the way athletes perform so I found their design ideas really inspiring.
The 2012 Games coming to London will be a massively exciting and it’s important we share that excitement with the younger generations that will benefit most from the Games. The VeloDream competition did just that, inspiring kids from around the UK to use their imagination and creative talents.
It was a pleasure to meet all of the schoolchildren involved and I hope the excitement of the 2012 Games continues to inspire them.
