Minister backs university’s Olympic mission

 

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell last week visited the University of Kent at Medway to see the facilities on offer in its Centre for Sports Studies.

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Staff gave Ms Jowell a demonstration of some of the hi-tech dietary and motion analysis equipment available to students on its various sports degree programmes, as well as showing her the centre’s ultra-modern fitness suites and performance testing laboratories.
 
Ms Jowell – who is also Minister for the 2012 Olympics – said she was bowled over with the set-up at Medway and backed the University in its bid to provide a series of training camps for athletes during the games.
 
"The facilities are absolutely state-of-the-art. The University is well placed to be a 2012 leader, as what you are providing here is precisely what both our elite and middle-ranking athletes need," she said.
 
"At the Athens Olympics, five of our gold medals were won by a margin of less than half a second. The equipment on offer here could make the difference between breaking a world record and just being close.
 
"You can’t underestimate how this sort of technology will help to improve performances year on year," Ms Jowell commented.
 
The University of Kent at Medway has already been in talks with the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA), with a view to hosting both British and international players who will be taking part in the 2012 Games.

Accessible training camps

Training camps need to be within easy reaching distance of London and will allow players the opportunity to rest, relax and to work out using top-notch sporting facilities.
 
Staff from the University’s Centre for Sports Studies will also be able to offer athletes help and advice on subjects such as psychology, nutrition and injury prevention screening.
 
Ms Jowell added that the community as a whole stood to gain from what she called the 'gold dust effect' of the Olympics.
 
"Medway is well-placed to get involved with the Olympics, and to take advantage of the many commercial and sporting benefits it will bring. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity we have to embrace," she said.
 
As part of its commitment to sport in the community, the University has also pledged £3 million towards the conversion of the Black Lion Leisure Centre in Gillingham into a centre of sporting excellence.
 
Work is already under way and plans include the creation of a new gymnastics centre, athletics track and other specialist sports facilities. 

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