Emerging stars ensure county’s sports heritage is in safe hands

The likes of Jessica Ennis, the Brownlee brothers, Nicola Adams and Ed Clancy all performed above themselves to land the greatest prize in the sport as the nation watched on amid a wave of euphoria.

Surely such memories are unlikely to be created again, unless all five of the above can repeat the feat in Rio in three years time – and who would bet against that?

But in terms of great sportsmen and women, it was as if the Broad Acres had used up their allotted quota in one momentous fell swoop.

However, as remarkable as those athletes are, and as legendary as they have become, I would wager that there is enough emerging talent in the county to continue their great tradition, if not to surpass it in the years to come.

Indeed, some have already made great strides in doing so.

To start this journey through Yorkshire’s bright young things, we have to start at Brookline last week, and that outrageous achievement by Sheffield teenager Matthew Fitzpatrick in winning the US Amateur title.

I’ve written plenty about Fitzpatrick this week and no doubt will be writing about him for years to come, but it doesn’t hurt to go over the numbers again to remind ourselves of the magnitude of the achievement.

102 – years since the last Englishman won the US Amateur;

312 – players who entered the tournament;

6 – matchplay opponents the Hallamshire Golf Club member beat en route to winning the title;

3 – majors Fitzpatrick will play in next year if he stays amateur; The Masters, US Open and Open.

And all this after winning the silver medal for being leading amateur at this summer’s Open.

He is a boy destined to go far in an individual sport that rewards its champions with superstar status and vast sums of money.

Just as tennis does. While Britain has a standard-bearer already in Andy Murray, the man tipped to carry the baton when the Scot retires is a Yorkshireman – Beverley’s Kyle Edmund.

The 18-year-old is currently making the transition from the junior ranks to the senior, a step up which can be just as sizable as that of amateur to professional in golf.

Because of that, he is not at Flushing Meadows this week for the US Open, as he is no longer able to compete as a junior and his senior ranking is not yet high enough to earn him a place in qualifying.

Nevertheless, Edmund is a former junior semi-finalist in New York, a winner of the junior doubles at Roland Garros earlier this year and he made his debut in the senior draw at Wimbledon this summer, losing to eventual semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz.

He is very highly thought of at the Lawn Tennis Association as a player of real promise.

With the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire in 2014, thoughts are already turning to whether any Yorkshire cyclists might be featuring.

If it were a women’s race, Olympic road silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead would be a shoo-in, but as it is, the county’s talent well is not that deep.

One young man who is highly-regarded in the British Cycling scene is Team Sky neo-pro Josh Edmondson, pictured, 21, of Ilkley.

Just this last week, his development gathered speed when he served as a domestique for Tour de France winner Chris Froome at the US Pro Challenge in America, and made a damn good fist of it as well.

British swimming might be undergoing a trying period with changes at the top and repeated failures, but when it comes to aquatics, Yorkshire has a growing pool – pardon the pun – of talent.

The City of Leeds Diving Club has happened upon a rich seem of talent, with teenagers Jack Laugher, Hannah Starling and Alicia Blagg all progressing nicely up the ladder.

Each has experience of an Olympic Games and a world championships, and each knows how lucky they are to have an excellent coaching and support network at their disposal at the state-of-the-art facility at the John Charles Aquatics Centre.

They also have the backing of Leeds City Council, something the City of Sheffield swimmers like hot prospect Ellie Faulkner may in time regret not having from Sheffield council, which is having to cut provisions for swimming and diving. There are other talents at the Sheffield club, like Dewsbury’s Matthew Johnson, whom it is hoped get the adequate support to realise their potential.

On the track, the recent world championships in Moscow showed Great Britain’s increasing reliance on reliable campaigners like Mo Farah and Christine Ohuruogu to win the the gold medals.

But in her first major global championship at the age of 24, it was encouraging to see Hull’s Annabelle Lewis play her role in the British women’s 4x100m relay team’s bronze-medal winning success. Hopefully that performance acts as a springboard for the next stage of her career.

Team-sport wise, there are any number of sizable prospects emerging from the rugby league academies across Yorkshire, while at Headingley Carnegie, the production line that produced Ashes-winning cricketers in Tim Bresnan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root is again in the process of polishing another rough diamond in Alex Lees.

In football, England’s Under-21s thrashed Scotland at Bramall Lane last week, with Barnsley-born teenager John Stones rampaging down the right wing and George Long sat on the bench after progressing rapidly through the international age-group ladder.

In short, Yorkshire’s sporting future is in safe hands.