One of UK athletics' all-time greats, Olympic triple jump legend Jonathan Edwards CBE, visited Leicester and Leicestershire on Wednesday 9^th November. A former Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European Champion in triple jump, Jonathan still holds the world record for the event after jumping 18.29metres at the 1995 World Championships.

In his role as Deputy Chair of the London 2012 Nations and Regions Group, Jonathan will be visited venues across Leicester and Leicestershire to experience firsthand the work taking place around the county that has been inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Jonathan's tour kicked-off at Glebelands Primary School, where the legendary Olympian had the students on their feet as he led them through a hop, skip and jump warm up activity, followed by a brief talk about his career to date and an informative student led question and answer session.

Jonathan was then invited to discover more about the Playing for Health programme, delivered in conjunction with the Leicester Sports Partnership Trust, NHS Leicester City, Leicester-shire & Rutland Sport and the four professional sports clubs based within the City of Leicester. The programme, is based on the 'Flames: Lighting the way' model which is part of the London 2012 Inspire programme and aims toinspire young people within the city to take part in more sport and physical activity.

Following his trip to Glebelands Primary School, Jonathan went on to visit King Richard III Infant School to discover the work being completed by students on the global dimension of the 2012 Games. The students demonstrated a selection of the activities that they have been undertaking in areas such as PE, history, geography, music, art and food and treated Jonathan to a stirring rendition of Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport.

During his visit to the area, Jonathan also met with Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport Ambassadors and other talented young athletes including GB triple jumper Laura Samuels, fellow triple jumper Armani James, rower Jonny Walton, promising discus thrower and shot putter Eden Francis and Paralympic sprint hopeful, Selina Litt.

Jonathan said: "It was good to see a couple of triple jumpers."Laura is a very good triple jumper who is knocking on the door of selection for next year." Laura, 20, from Braunstone Frith, said: "It was good to get some advice. It's not every day you get to meet a world record-holder."

The tour concluded with a visit to the Robert Smyth Academy in Market Harborough where Jonathan found out more about the My Games My Legacy project, met with Shauna Richardson, the talented local artist behind the Lionheart project, and met with students from Welland Park school and a group from the University of the thrid age, both of whom have participated in the Patchwork Pledge. To finish, Jonathan met Young Leaders from Robert Smyth Academy who talked about the wide range of 2012 related projects they were involved with and their plans for the 'Get Set to Plan Your 2012' programme.