Olympic triathlete Jonny Brownlee MBE dropped into Harrogate independent school Belmont Grosvenor to offer his support to pupils competing in their annual sports day.
The World, Commonwealth and three-time Olympic medalist, who lives in North Yorkshire, spent time chatting with pupils, parents and staff at the co-educational prep school, before sharing the secrets of his success with the audience.
Co-educational prep school Belmont Grosvenor is based Birstwith, just a few miles from the centre of Harrogate, and welcomes pupils from three months to 11 years.
Last month, all children, from the youngest in nursery to the oldest in Year 6, took part in the inaugural BGS Triathlon to raise money to refurbish the school swimming pool. And earlier in the year Prep pupils (Years 3 to 6) travelled to York to compete in the annual Brownlee Foundation Triathlon, set up by Jonny and his brother Alistair.
After presenting prizes at the BGS sports day, Jonny, who has a complete set of gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals, showed off his Tokyo gold medal to pupils and told them that with hard work and dedication, they could achieve their dreams.
“I started running at school sports days, just like you are doing here, and I found out I was quite good at running and I started doing triathlons when I was six years old,” he said.
“My advice to you is this. Find something you enjoy, it could be sport, it could be music, it could be drama, it could be anything, and then work hard.
“Everyone has got a talent and if you work hard enough you can achieve anything,” he added.
Jonny told Belmont Grosvenor pupils that it is important to dream big in life.
“My dream was always to compete in the Olympics, I never thought it was possible but I worked hard at school and I trained hard, mostly on these Yorkshire lanes, and I achieved my dream,” he said.
He told pupils that the proudest moment of his career was winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“My brother had two gold medals already – it was the proudest moment when I could finally call myself an Olympic champion, it was an incredible feeling,” he said
Headmaster Mr Nathan Sadler said he was delighted Jonny had found time in his busy schedule to support the BGS sports day.
“Having such an inspirational athlete attend our sports day has been incredible for all our children, and staff and parents alike. We are so thankful that he found time to drop by, answer questions, start races and present our very own medals. It has been a very special day,” he said.
For more information or to arrange a visit to Belmont Grosvenor School, visit the website at : www.belmontgrosvenor.co.uk or call 01423 771029.
