Issue 16 Autumn 2012 - Brunel University

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Golden success credited to Brunel training
Athletes and staff from Korea,
Canada and the Caribbean who
trained at Brunel in the lead up
to the Games have been united
in their praise for the campus
facilities and the welcome
received from staff and students.
Triple Olympic Champion Usain
Bolt and his training partners
Yohan Blake and Warren Weir
(pictured right) won gold, silver
and bronze in the men’s 200m,
capping a glittering Games for
London 2012
round up
The nation was gripped by olympic fever over the summer of 2012,
and on campus at Brunel we were right at the heart of the action.
Crowds on the concourse cheered the olympic Torch Relay
in July, and as the olympic and paralympic Games unfolded
we kept on cheering for our eleven student and graduate
competitors, our staff and student volunteers, and for those
athletes from around the world who had trained at Brunel.
on these pages we celebrate their achievements, and look back
on a summer that many have seen as one of Brunel’s best.
photo credit: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
Racers Track Club which is based
at Brunel each summer. Speaking
to the BBC, Bolt said: “Brunel
is awesome! The University has
done great for us. We come
here every summer and we get
a lot of support from everybody
there, so thank you guys.”
The Chief Delegate of the Korean
team echoed the Jamaican
star’s praise, highlighting their
pre-Games training at Brunel
and in the London Borough of
Hillingdon as the most important
factor in achieving an outstanding
fifth place in the medal table.
Quoted in The Korea Times, Lee
Kee-Heung said: “This is the best
thing we have done at these
Olympics. The training base
allowed athletes to train with
proper partners, served them
delicious and nutritious Korean
food, and offered medical care.
We will open a similar camp
for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”
Kate Walsh captains
GB hockey team to
olympic bronze
Brunel graduate and honorary
fellow Kate Walsh withstood
a horrific injury to captain
Great Britain to bronze
in women’s hockey.
Kate (pictured left, front row, far
right) fractured her jaw in the
opening game of the competition,
undergoing surgery to fit three
titanium plates before returning
just six days later to lead the
team. After losing their semifinal
to Argentina, Team GB
went on to beat New Zealand
3-1 in the bronze medal match.
The British hockey team have
overhauled their training, lifestyle
and culture in recent years in
a bid to reach the top of the
international game, and their
success marks the end of a 20 year
medal drought in the Olympics.
The fourth most capped
Englishwoman in history, Kate
has been captain of England
and Great Britain for nine years.
She graduated with a BSc in
Sport Sciences in 2003.