News

The excitement of the past weekend in Essex as we hosted the Olympic Mountain Bike events at Hadleigh Farm may be over, but today, Essex County Council reflects on the amazing achievements of Essex athletes at the London 2012 Olympics.

Essex County Councilor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Education, Life Long Learning and the 2012 Games has been following the action: “After the success of the opening week of the Olympics we doubted it could get much better, but we couldn’t be more wrong. Team GB burst their way up the medal table to finish at third overall, with some fantastic contributions from Essex based athletes and in particular our Team Essex Ambassadors”.

The final haul of medals saw our fantastic Team Essex Ambassadors take their turn on the podium. Chloe Rogers won a well-earned bronze after storming her way through in the Hockey and sailor Saskia Clarke ended the week in style with Silver after narrowly missing out on the Gold by the smallest of margins. The biggest praise will of course go to Harlow born cyclist Laura Trott who put on an amazing show at the velodrome and walked away with two Gold medals, in the team pursuit and the Omnium.

Essex County Councilor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Education, Life Long Learning and the 2012 Games continued: “Congratulations to all our Team Essex Ambassadors and all Essex athletes who have done us proud. Their success shows what a wealth of talent we have in our great county. Good luck to Daniel Bentley, Emma Hollis and Hannah Stodel our TEA Paralympic hopefuls; I’m sure everyone will be cheering them on to victory”.

The Team Essex Ambassador Awards are the top tier of a comprehensive funding package provided by Essex County Council and supported by Southend on Sea Borough Council to support athletes with talent. The grant aid is specifically for Essex athletes who have been identified with the potential to compete at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The scheme has run for four years and has awarded 27 athletes a £6,500 bursary to help with the costs of training and competing at the highest level.

The world’s best mountain bikers fought it out at our stunning Olympic venue over the weekend which saw 40,000 spectators at the venue, putting Hadleigh and Essex firmly on the map. Our “adopted” Essex athlete Annie Last came a very respectable 8th in her first Olympics – surely a name to watch in future. And with the promise of a real legacy from the venue the people of Essex can be proud not only of what Hadleigh has achieved so far, but what it promises to bring to future generations.
 

Read more about our Team Essex Ambassadors>>

Read more about plans for the Olympic mountain bike course now that the Games are over>>