Unless you live in an absolute vacuum, you can’t have failed to notice that the Olympics are here. Even if you hate sport, there’s no escaping the hype and enthusiasm surrounding the games.
I began to wonder if anyone from the local area has been involved in the Olympics. Here are five interesting, if rather peculiar, facts about our local area and international sporting history.
1
In 1948 the Olympics were hosted in London for the second time
The Olympic Games had previously been held in London in 1908. They were supposed to return here in 1944, but the Second World War got in the way.
The velodrome at Herne Hill – one of the oldest velodromes in the country – was chosen as the venue for the cycling competitions. The BBC constructed a huge operation on site so they could broadcast directly to the nation from the venue.
Olympic football matches were also played at Selhurst Park (Crystal Palace) and at Champion Hill.
2
Dulwich’s most famous Olympian is Kieran West MBE, an old boy of Dulwich College (1986-95). He rowed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney – where he won a gold medal in the eights – and again at the Athens games in 2004.
3
Sinead Joyce teaches tae-kwon-do during PE lessons at St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Primary School in East Dulwich. One hundred of her pupils recently passed their tae-kwon-do exams with flying colours. She is a world champion of the martial art and a local hopeful for the 2012 Olympics in London.
4
Ric Birch is another old boy of Dulwich College (1955-57)
He acted as an advisor to the Master of Ceremonies, Zhang Yimou, for the opening ceremony of the current Olympic Games in Beijing. Ric has been responsible for many of the opening ceremonies for both the summer and winter Olympics, since the Los Angeles games in 1984, as well as the Sydney Millennium festivities.
5
Jamie Harding, a teenager from Herne Hill who suffers from cerebral palsy, has represented Britain at international athletics and sprinting events. He was also one of the eighty people who ran with the Olympic flame when it passed through London on its way to Beijing.
Do you know any other local Olympic trivia? If so, please leave us a comment below. There must be much more.
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