World champion hurdler Dai Greene has said more needs to be done to get elite athletes into schools, a year after the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. This is from the BBC…
Greene said he visited a school about once a month before the Games but had not been into a single school since.
The 27-year-old, who has trained at the University of Bath since 2009, wants the government to “get involved”.
UK Sport said all athletes funded by them were asked to carry out five community visits a year.
Greene is the 400m hurdles champion at European, Commonwealth and World level.
The Swansea Harrier told BBC Bristol: “There was a scheme I was involved in before the Olympics and I was going in on a regular basis, every month or two months, depending on whether I was in the country or not, but that scheme has finished.
“I knew a few athletes from around the area who did the same thing but obviously the network that we had setup has fallen apart now, so it’s disappointing in that respect.
“I’m sure the government could do more to facilitate sportsmen visiting schools. I never had any sportsmen come to my school when I was youngster, and it would have been really inspiring.”
Elite athletes, including Greene, are supported by a mixture of exchequer and lottery funding under awards given out by UK Sport.
A spokeswoman said that, as of 1 April, athletes on UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme were asked to carry out five visits a year.
More at: Hurdler Dai Greene wants more elite athletes to visit schools
Do you agree that the government needs to do more or should @DaiGreene follow @chrissyohuruogu‘s example and just get on with it? Let us know what you think in the comments or via twitter…
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