Commonwealth medallist inspires children to get active - The Coventry Observer

Commonwealth medallist inspires children to get active

Coventry Editorial 19th Jun, 2017   0

CHILDREN at a Catholic school have been inspired by a Commonwealth gold medalist to raise more than £2,000 for charity.

Retired sprint runner Leon Baptiste visited Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School on Langbank Avenue to hold fitness sessions with pupils and speak to them about his career.

The two-time gold medallist held a whole school assembly before leading circuit training with individual year groups.

The school visit was made possible thanks to the charity Sporting Champions – a Sport England initiative by the London 2012 Olympics, which brings top athletes face to face with young people to inspire them to participate in sport.




Each pupil was asked to raise £1.40 in sponsorship for the charity – but through generous donations from friends and family, the children raised more than £2,000.

The money raised will go towards the charity’s efforts to promote sport and the school’s own provision of physical activities.


One teaching assistant, Simone Halton, added to the occasion by bringing in a replica of the Olympic torch – as her father is a director of Coventry firm Premier Sheet Metals which produced the real 2012 Olympic torch.

Charlotte Miller, Vice Principal at Corpus Christi, said: “It was excellent to welcome Leon to the school, he had a brilliant rapport with the children and gave an inspiring assembly about his career.

“He spoke about how he began his career in football but had to give this up after sustaining a knee injury and then went into running.

“It really showed the children how much you can achieve if you have passion and determination.

“Both the school and the academy have a real drive to promote healthy living to children and staff, and all of the children thoroughly enjoyed the circuit sessions which were a lot of fun.”

She added a certificate was awarded to all those who raised sponsorship, along with a special signed photo of Leon for pupils raising more than £35.

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