AN OLYMPIC silver medallist convinced a council to lend its full support to the London 2012 games. The extent of Stevenage s involvement was discussed during the London 2012 – Can we go for Gold? debate at the borough council offices last week. Olympi

AN OLYMPIC silver medallist convinced a council to lend its full support to the London 2012 games.

The extent of Stevenage's involvement was discussed during the "London 2012 - Can we go for Gold?" debate at the borough council offices last week.

Olympic silver medallist Mark Richardson spoke about how he was inspired to become an athlete by watching the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and showed a video of his silver medal winning effort as part of Great Britain's 4x400 metre relay team at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

One of the highlights of the meeting came when Mark's silver medal was passed around among the councillors.

During the meeting the council declared its full support for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and passed a motion to "promote sporting activities that can be accessed by all to whatever level they aspire, to enable the people of Stevenage to achieve maximum benefit and have the capacity to be involved and contribute to a successful games".

Leader of the council, Sharon Taylor, said: "We want to take full advantage of the Olympics in London and we are committed to supporting Hertfordshire's involvement in any way we can. But this is not just for the Olympics. We want this to be about fitness for the future. We want to create a legacy."

Last week we reported the council's hopes that Stevenage could play host to a national squad.