Olympic Star Rebecca Inspires Sports Students

Olympic gold medallists Rebecca Adlington and Jonathan Edwards have given inspiring talks to sport and PE students at Sheffield Hallam University.

They both spoke at the third annual PE, Sport Development and Coaching (PESDC) Student Conference at Sheffield Hallam University on Friday, sponsored by Sportworks. Rebecca was interviewed on stage with her sister Laura, who is a final year PE and youth sport student at the University.

Rebecca, who took two gold medals in Beijing in the summer, said that she will be training for three events in London 2012. As well as the 400m and 800m, she is training for the women's 4x200m relay event, even though her strength is in distance swimming.

Rebecca explains: "Beijing was my first major competition. I just wanted to get experience, maybe pick up a silver or bronze, but everything changed once we got there.

"The 800m is my favourite event - I know it inside out. That's the one I trained at and that's the one I wanted. But I didn't expect the World Record.

"I remember looking up at my coach and he was just standing there with his arms folded. I panicked as he usually waves me on. Afterwards he just said 'I knew you had it'."

She also said that she doesn't feel under pressure to perform in London: "No football team wins every match, and my family love me no matter what. The only pressure is coming from me."

Chair of UK Sport, Baroness Sue Campbell, gave a rousing keynote speech at the conference, and called on student athletes, PE practitioners and coaches to be the best they can.

She said: "Improving individuals' performance is about doing 100 things one per cent better. Second place in London 2012 just isn't good enough. We want to close the gap with Russia, and our ambition for 2012 is to win more sports, more medals, and get more athletes on podiums."

Jonathan Edwards gave the final keynote speech, rounding off the two day conference, which was attended by nearly 500 sports students, academics and professionals. He echoed Baroness Sue Campbell's message to students and spoke of how London 2012 will be a chance for everyone to be part of an Olympic Games that will provide a sporting legacy for the nation.

Conference organiser Sarah Wenham said: "Because of the contacts the University staff team has within the sport and PE profession, we were lucky to secure a superb range of keynote speakers this year. They spoke about not only Team GB's success in Beijing, but looked at how schools and communities will benefit as we move towards London 2012."