SOME OF THE world’s top athletes could be preparing for the 2012 Olympics on the Isle of Wight as three local sporting amenities have been chosen by the London Olympics as potential venues to host Pre Games Training sessions.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOGOC) has selected The Fairway Athletics Centre at Lake, Medina Leisure Centre, Newport, and Cowes as venues recommended to athletes as training or acclimatisation facilities prior to the games.
Fairway was selected as an athletics centre, Medina as an indoor sports centre for basketball and indoor volleyball and Cowes as a yachting and sailing centre.
IW Council leader David Pugh, also cabinet member for leisure, welcomed the news.
“It speaks volumes for our sporting facilities here on the Island that three are deemed of a standard suitable for Olympic athletes,” he said.
“It is particularly pleasing that two of the facilities — Medina and the Fairway — are provided for the benefit of residents and visitors by the IW Council. They are both facilities of which the Island can be proud.
“We are delighted also that Cowes continues to be viewed as a Mecca for world yachting.
“The IW Council takes sport and fitness extremely seriously. That is why we have invested £1. 3 million in supporting and hosting the 2011 Island Games. Encouraging participation in sport helps keep the Island a healthy place which is a key element of our Eco Island vision.”
Stuart Quarrie, chief executive of Skandia Cowes Week commented, “This is fantastic news for the Island. The diverse sailing and yacht clubs of Cowes and Gurnard will be able to offer some great facilities, while the waters off Cowes will give visiting competitors a taste of South Coast tides and conditions”
The three Island facilities will be incorporated in the official guide for National Olympic Committees subject to them completing a number of steps laid out by the LOGOC.
