Long hard road

Much has been made of the legacy of the Olympic Games and how it will inspire generations of young people to take up sport but to achieve that goal, British athletes will need to be in top shape to compete.

Around the world our competitors are pulling out all the stops to achieve their potential. Meanwhile York sprinter Richard Buck is getting ready to take on the fastest man ever to set foot on a track, Usain Bolt, by stacking shelves in his local supermarket – because his £20,000 funding was cut.

It is potentially a fantastic rags-to-riches story as Buck, who fits in 35 hours of training a week, has a genuine chance of a medal in the 4x400m relay. Britain finished fourth in the race four years ago and the 25-year-old is confident they can do better.

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But it is also a sad state of affairs when, amid the hundreds of millions of pounds being spent on hosting the Games, relatively small amounts of funding for the athletes themselves, even medal contenders, is so hard to come by.

If, as we all hope he does, he achieves his dream, his determination will be one of the real inspirational legacies of the event.

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