11 Gold medals in the Paralympics and now a Baroness, right here in Wolverhampton.

Express & Star

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson was on had at Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton,  where she was giving a talk, but also helping out pass over the Wolvolympic torch between two schools. We find out more.

Transcript

00:00I'm here with 11-time Paralympic gold medallist Baradice Tanigray-Thompson

00:05to talk about the Baton Relay and about the power of the Olympics itself.

00:09So, how shall I address you, Tani or Marlene?

00:12Tani, thank you.

00:13It's good to double check these things.

00:14So tell me how it feels to be here today to help with this Baton Relay.

00:18Oh, it's been so lovely. So I've been speaking at a conference, which is to headteachers,

00:22and then we've done the torch handover.

00:25And it's just amazing how many schools have been involved. It was 92 miles.

00:28It's incredible because then all the young people think about the Olympic spirit,

00:33which is about Olympic truce and being nice to each other and sport.

00:36And it's just been lovely.

00:37And with Paris coming up, it'll just get them thinking a bit differently about things.

00:42And that's the thing with the Olympics and the Paralympics coming up,

00:44it's good to be able to share that spirit even hundreds of miles away from us.

00:48Absolutely.

00:49And you're never too young to learn about the Games, about the history.

00:56It's about coming together.

00:58And, yeah, OK, it's about winning medals.

01:00But the spirit in the village, you meet people from different countries,

01:04different cultures, learn different things about each other.

01:07It's important that the young people learn that.

01:09And you've had the experience of five Paralympics and 11 gold medals from that.

01:13There's a lot, obviously, that you can share from that.

01:15Not just about the medal winning, but also about the experience, the whole occasion.

01:20Yeah, so for me, the only time I was ever alone was that final bit when I was on the track

01:24and I had coaches, training partners, loads of people who helped and supported me.

01:27And that's the reality.

01:29If you're going to be good at something in your life, you never just do it on your own.

01:32You have people around you.

01:33And that's some of the things I've been talking about today.

01:36So, yeah, hopefully it's a positive message.

01:40And obviously share that experience of carrying the Olympic torch yourself.

01:43Yeah, I've been very lucky to do that. I did it in London.

01:45But, you know, this is pretty cool, though, isn't it?

01:48It's so nice for all of them.

01:52And all the little ones joining in with the ribbons and everything else.

01:55It's a lovely celebration.

01:57Who knows, maybe you can inspire one of them to go forward to the Olympics,

02:00or if they have to, the Paralympics, and be able to compete at that level

02:04and just enjoy the experience of being there.

02:06Sport and physical activity is really important, whoever you are.

02:09It's important to be active.

02:11If that takes you into any sport, that's brilliant.

02:13But actually being active for the whole of our lives is really important to me.

02:17And it's good to see the city of Wolverhampton doing something like this to involve the kids as well.

02:20Wolverhampton has been brilliant.

02:22I mean, I've had a lovely day here, and, you know,

02:24the amount of planning that goes into making something like this happen for the youngsters is huge.

02:29Having a great time, look, you know, that's what it's all about.

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