Baroness Grey-Thompson on the legacy of London 2012
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson talks to David Wood about the legacy of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
"I think the biggest part of the legacy was participation, and changing young people's minds as to what they could do" she says.
"Not just in sport, but in terms of art and culture. That was always going to be the hardest thing. The Games were amazing, and you're bound to get a spike in participation in the two weeks afterwards".
"It's how you maintain that, not just for six months but for a year and several years down the line".
We were clear in the lead up to the Games that we wanted Welsh success in terms of performance and medals to be mirrored by grassroots participation.
Work began with partners to ensure that any child inspired by our Olympians and Paralympians had every opportunity to get involved, and encouragingly we're now seeing the fruits of that labour.
– Professor Laura McAllister
Swimming, gymnastics, hockey and cycling are just a few examples of where we're already witnessing the London 2012 legacy in Wales and let's be clear - there is no coincidence in the increase in participants here.
Many of the governing bodies for sports in Wales have reported significant increases in interest and participation since the Olympics and Paralympics last summer.
Welsh Gymnastics - 25% increase in membership, 28% increase in girls' membership
Welsh Cycling - 15 new affiliated clubs since October
Hockey Wales - 35 hockey clubs increased their membership in the last year
Returning home with a 7-strong medal haul, Wales’ Olympians are celebrating their most successful Games for over 100 years.
But encouragingly for the future of Welsh sport, the medal haul isn’t the only sign of success.
We’ve been clear about our need to be unashamedly ambitious in our quest for success and, together with governing bodies of sport, have set a target of between 6 &10 medals across both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
With the 7 medals already won by Welsh athletes, we are well on track to achieving that target.
London 2012 was an Olympic Games that put the future of Welsh sport in the spotlight.
Not only are we achieving in the here and now, with medals from some of our most experienced and respected athletes, such as Geraint Thomas and Tom James, but it gave us a glimpse of what’s to come.
