Olympic and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, swimmer Michael Jamieson, has become the latest high-profile star to back Glasgow’s bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
Glasgow joins five other cities in the race to host the 2018 Games and Jamieson, who won silver in the 200m breaststroke at both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, believes his home city would be the perfect choice.
Glasgow’s bid has young people at its very heart seeks to capitalise on the opportunities created by London 2012 and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as the city’s world-class sporting events programme.
The Glasgow 2018 ‘Be a Champion in your Life’ campaign has already won the support of the Prime Minister David Cameron and Olympians including Dame Kelly Holmes. And in an inspirational message of support for Glasgow’s 2018 Youth Olympic Games bid, Glasgow swimmer Jamieson spoke of his Olympic journey and the support he received while training in the city.
The 23-year-old said: "I’m a champion in my life and I support Glasgow’s bid to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. My journey started at the Glasgow Club Springburn when my parents bought me a six-week block at the Learn to Swim programme. I didn’t get in the water till week six because it was too cold but when I eventually got in I loved it.
"When I was 12 years old I moved to Glasgow School of Sport. That coupled with a move to the City of Glasgow Swim Team at Tollcross was when I made the decision that this was the career path I wanted. I knew then that I wanted to be an Olympian.
"I had five years at the school which gave me a great head start in teaching me life skills that I still use today as a professional athlete. I learned about time management, organisation and balancing my academic studies with my sporting commitments.
"When I was youngster it was all about getting to the Olympic Games and winning an Olympic medal and it was around 2007 when it became a realistic target. I prepared for this year and prepared to win a medal at the Olympic Games. It has been a bit of a whirlwind since the Games but that has been my career highlight so far.
"The challenge for me moving on from this is I want to go on and win more medals. With Glasgow 2014 on the horizon that’s at the forefront of my mind. Hopefully I will be at the World Championships next summer and then of course in Glasgow the following year."
For more information contact: john.egan@glasgow.gov.uk
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatimtexts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-relatedorganizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
20 Years at #1:
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
