Whilst the eyes of the world have been
focussed on the impressive venues of London 2012, people across the
country have been giving sport a go at the Olympic Live Sites.
Whether it be sports fans in Leeds
emulating local heroes the Brownlees at Triathlon’s Endless Pool in
the city centre, or sport fans giving fencing a go in Bristol,
hundreds of thousands of people have tried a new sport during the
Games.
Dozens of Live Sites have been located
across England to enable people to enjoy the Olympic action on big
television screens and try out some of the sports that they have
enjoyed watching.
As well as providing sporting opportunities
to the general public around the country, London 2012 ticketholders
have been able to try new sports at venues such as the Olympic
Park, where thousands of adults and young people have taken to two
blow-up hockey pitches to play mini-matches.
With the help of a £60,000 investment from
Sport England, a Sport Arena has been created on Weymouth beach to
giving people the chance to try out sports such as rowing, rugby
union, football, cricket, kayaking, sailing, volleyball and table
tennis.
More than 50,000 people have already
visited the arena, which is open from 10am to 6pm every day of the
Olympic and Paralympics.
Christy Cole, 14, from Ferndown, Dorset
said: "I've had an amazing time trying out canoeing and all
the other sports. I've loved being able to have a go at
different things, and I'm looking forward to finding out more about
local sports clubs to so I can carry on with some of them in the
future - particularly canoeing."
Aspiring young sports stars have also had
the opportunity to be inspired by elite athletes such as judoka
Euan Burton and 21-year-old modern pentathlete James Myatt.
James, who hopes to compete for Team GB in
Rio, has spent the past couple of days helping young people find
out how much fun the sport is by running taster session in some of
London’s parks.
Speaking about the live site opportunities,
James said: "Things like this are great for the sport, both because
it will inspire young people to get involved and to take a bigger
interest in our sport generally.
"I really enjoyed helping out at a session
earlier this week. I'd never seen something where our sport had
touched so many people in a single day. When you see people's faces
when they've tried it, they are beaming."
There may only be a few days left of the
Olympic Games but there are still plenty of opportunities to go to
your nearest Live Site to soak up the atmosphere and try out a new
sport, visit the London 2012
website for more information.