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Q&A with Local Heroes

The Lloyds TSB Local Heroes programme provides support and recognition to the future stars of Team GB and ParalympicsGB at a time in their career when they need it most. By the time of the 2012 Games we will have supported more than 1,000 of these emerging stars.

Q&A with Local Heroes

 

We caught up with three Local Heroes, who hope to be selected for London 2012, to find out how they’re preparing for the 2012 Games and beyond. Mark Hawkins is a 26 year old Handball player from Horsham in West Sussex, Georgina Geikie is a 27 year old Shooter from Okehampton in Devon and Boxer Iain Weaver is 21 and from Ferndown in Dorset.

Q: How was 2011 for you? 

MH: I think it was a good year. There were a lot of improvements on a domestic level for me, getting a move to play in Iceland at a much higher level has been great for me. And also at international level the team have improved a lot which has been great.

GG: It was certainly character building at the start but the hard work paid off. From having no gun, no coach and being taken off funding at the beginning of the year I managed to secure a quota spot for the Olympics at the European Championships in Belgrade.

IW: It was an up and down year for me, 50-50 really. I went to three international events and won three medals so I was pleased with that but then at the end of the year I didn’t box as I would have liked at the GB Championships so that was disappointing.

Q: Are you where you need to be for success this year?

MH: I think so, myself and the team are putting in the work to make sure we are ready for when the Games start. We have got work to do but we are in a good position and we are happy with where we are.

GG: I am definitely on the right track. The countdown to the Games is getting ever shorter now and I feel I am as prepared as I can be at this time. I have still got competitions in preparation for the Games with World Cups and other international shoots.

IW: I am definitely in the right place for success. What I need to do now is to make sure I keep winning at the international events at the start of the year so that I get picked for the European Olympic qualifier in Istanbul in April and then get my place for 2012 there. I am happy with where I am in terms of my fitness.

Q: What is the ultimate ambition for London 2012?

MH: For myself the first aim is to make sure I am at the Games and that means I need to make sure my form continues and I keep my place in the team. The aim for the team has always been to finish in the top eight but first of all we need to make sure we produce a credible performance. I think we are in a good shape to do that.

GG: Obviously that is to achieve Gold. I believe that will be a tall order but shooting is very, very close at the top level and so if I can qualify for the final (by getting into the top eight) then I have a chance.

IW: The ambition for 2012 is to win Gold – with every international tournament I go to the goal is always to win Gold and 2012 is no different, I want to be the best I can be.

Q: What would it feel like to be part of a home Games?

MH: I think it would be phenomenal but I don’t think anyone really knows how good it is going to feel like until we actually get out there. In terms of the atmosphere and the support we will get I am sure it will be second to none.

GG: It would be so, so exciting just to have that home support. Because of how shooting works when I am training for the 25m sport pistol it all has to be very tightly controlled so my family and friends can’t see me do it, so it will be nice to have them watching me compete.

IW: It would feel great. To be at an Olympics anywhere would be amazing but to be at one in your backyard would make it even better. To walk out in front of a home crowd when we spend a lot of time in front of hostile ones would be really good.

Q: Where do you see your sport and yourself in five years time?

MH: With handball I think the game has got massive potential to be one of the legacy sports of the Olympics. That has got to be the long term aim for the Games. Hopefully in five or ten years time there will be a more established national team as well as a more competitive national league. I am hoping to play handball after the 2012 Olympics for as long as I can.

GG: I am focusing on the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and then onwards to the Rio Olympics in 2016 so I’d like to be on track for them in the next few years. But away from actually competing I am really enjoying being an ambassador and encouraging people to get into sport and that is something I’d love to keep doing because I think sport is a fantastic thing to encourage people to get into.

IW: For me I see myself as having hopefully made it to the 2012 Olympics and then turned professional. Then the hope would be to win the British title and maybe even go for a world title.

Q: How has being a Lloyds TSB Local Hero helped your London 2012 chances?

MH: The funding has been a massive help in terms of helping me be able to train full time and travel and play abroad to improve my game.

GG: The funding has gone towards paying for my actual competitions and my money from Lloyds TSB went towards the European Championships in Belgrade. That was where I secured a quota spot for London 2012 so the money has been a great help.

IW: The funding from Lloyds TSB has been great in helping with transport and equipment costs.

London 2012 Olynpic Games

156 Days to go

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London 2012 Paralympic Games

>189 Days to go

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Did you know?

  • The London 2012 Olympic Stadium will have an 80,000 seat capacity.
  • SYDNEY 2000: Korea (South Korea) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) marched together under the same flag.
  • 76 – number of lifts in the Olympic Village to ensure the buildings are fully accessible.
  • ATHENS 2004: The marathon races followed the same route as the 1896 race, beginning in Marathon and ending in Athens' Panathenaic Stadium. Vanderlei de Lima (BRA) was in the lead with less than 7 kilometres to go when he was pushed off the course.
  • 8.8 million tickets will be available for the London 2012 Olympic Games, with another 2 million for the Paralympic Games.
  • In 2012 up to 25,000 people could be transported to and from Stratford International Station each hour on the Javelin® train from St Pancras International station, in less than seven minutes.
  • There are 26 Olympic sports and 20 Paralympic sports in the London 2012 Games.
  • More than one million people will visit the Olympic Stadium for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
  • SEOUL 1988: South Korea turned democratic in order to welcome the world to the Summer Games.
  • PARIS 1900: The first woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte Cooper, who won the tennis singles.
  • The London 2012 Olympic Games will have 300 medal events for 26 Olympic Sports in 34 venues over 17 days of competition.
  • 35m – height of the Basketball Arena, the same as London's Tate Modern and the Falkirk Wheel
  • If all London 2012 sports events were held on consecutive days, there would be 318 competition days for Olympic Games events and another 133 days for the Paralympic Games.
  • Our history with the Olympic Movement dates back to 1948 when Lloyds provided banking facilities to the 1948 Games, the last time they were held in London.
  • There are 700 rooms within the Olympic Stadium, including eight changing rooms and four prayer rooms.
  • BARCELONA 1992: In the women's 100m sprint Merlene Ottey (JAM) finished only six-hundredths of a second behind the winner, Gail Devers (USA), and yet she ended up in only fifth place.
  • MELBOURNE / STOCKHOLM 1956: To avoid the problem of quarantine for horses, the equestrian events took place in two different cities (Stockholm and Melbourne), and in two different seasons (June and November).
  • The dining room in the London Olympic Village will be the size of three football fields and seat 5,000. It will serve an estimated 100 tonnes of meat alone.
  • Around 900,000 items of sports equipment will be needed for the Olympic Games including 1424 FIFA-approved footballs, 1100 Badminton shuttlecocks and 65,000 towels.
  • The London 2012 Paralympic Games will award 471 medal events for 20 Paralympic sports in 21 venues over 11 days of competition.
  • MUNICH 1972: Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and broke seven world records.
  • For London 2012, rail links to the Olympic Park will have capacity to take more than 240,000 people to the Park every hour.
  • TOKYO 1964: The first Fair Play prize awarded to Lars Gunnar Kall and Stig Lennart Kall, who gave up their chances of winning the regatta to help two other competitors whose boat had sunk.
  • Ancient Olympics: The word gymnasium comes from the Greek root "gymnos" meaning nude (and yes, they did).
  • Following the London 1948 Olympic Games, Lloyds was given a 1948 Torch thought to have been donated by an employee who ran with it.
  • 53m – height of the Olympic Stadium: three metres taller than Nelson’s Column in London's Trafalgar Square.
  • 800,000 – the number of people expected to use public transport to travel to the London 2012 Games on the busiest day: about the same number as the combined population of Cardiff and Edinburgh.
  • 90% - proportion of material reclaimed from demolition within the Olympic Park which can be reused or recycled.
  • LONDON 1908: The first time a relay was included in the athletics events.
  • 11 – number of residential blocks within the Olympic Village, each the size of a football pitch.
  • The Olympic Park is the size of 357 football pitches.
  • A ticket application process was announced by LOCOG as a way of ensuring a fairer process in order to make London 2012 everyone’s Games.
  • The London 2012 Olympic Games ticket application process is open from 15 March to 26 April 2011.

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