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Hundreds of young athletes will compete for the crown of top sports borough this weekend.
The "mini-Olympics" has involved more than 31,000 children, aged 11 to 16, competing in 27 sports.
The finals of the year-long London Youth Games will be at the recently reopened Crystal Palace sports centre in front of an expected crowd of 10,000, including parents and classmates.
Events range from traditional Olympic sports such as track-and-field and swimming, to cricket, archery and angling. A borough winner will be declared on Sunday evening with Bromley aiming to defend its title.
About half a million aspiring Olympians have competed in the programme since 1977 and the event has recently cemented its position in the summer school sports calendar after a £2million sponsorship deal with construction giant Balfour Beatty.
Primary school children compete for top sports borough at Youth Games
Alumni include Olympic 400 metres champion Christine Ohuruogu, Chicago Bulls basketball star Luol Deng and Olympic 400-metre hurdles bronze medallist Tasha Danvers.
In the competition, Richmond and Bromley dominate rugby and swimming respectively due to their strong links between schools and sports clubs. Inner-city boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Lambeth will be in contention to win the basketball tournament.
Danvers, who as a schoolgirl competed for Lambeth, said: "It gives children an example of what it's like to be in elite sport. They get used to elimination rounds and that's good experience. The London Olympics is throwing the spotlight on events like this but what I want to see is that it is not a gimmick and after 2012 people still care. Sport can create fire in youngsters."
Danvers attended yesterday's mini Youth Games for primary school children before this weekend's finals for the older athletes. Youngsters were competing in nine sports, including three-a-side basketball and tag rugby. It also involved indoor athletics such as foam rubber javelin-throwing.
Megan McAuliffe, 11, took gold in the 50-metre breaststroke for Havering at Crystal Palace. She said: "The feeling of winning the medal was fantastic. It's just like the Olympics."
Lewisham won overall, triumphing in basketball and football.
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Cabbies, City and Call Centre workers and 50+ are amongst those who are being urged to get out of their cabs, come out from behind their desks or get up off the sofa and go to the three2go launch at Toynbee Hall on the 11th July so they can get fit and put on their running shoes for three2go’s East London Trail Marathon and 5k &1k fun run, 12 September.
The 2go race series which takes place in Lee Valley and Hackney Marshes has been inspired by the annual countdown to the 2012 Games and the promise of cultural and sporting opportunities for all.
“To celebrate the launch of three2go, we have developed a 9-week training programme to help those who want to get fit, or who want to increase their fitness, to take part including ‘Fit@50+’ for over 50’s and ‘Cabbies on the Run’ for London cabbies.
The nine week programme to help those of you who;
• want to take up running and get fit
• those who want to get their speeds up
• for those of you who are race ready
If you can’t make it to the launch, you can download from www.three2go.org.uk after the 11th July.
A special focus for this year’s event is to encourage those who may not have done exercise for some time to get fit and lose weight by taking part in our 5k race.
The three2go Launch takes place on 11 July from 11.00 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Toynbee Hall 28 Commercial St, London, E1 6LS http://preview.tinyurl.com/6l7jgy - for map. Nearest tube: Aldgate East (district and central lines).
- Sa Hickman, London, UK
