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Olympic-themed challenge enters second heat Achievements of Paralympians to be highlighted in post-competition festival

Budding athletes at Robert Gordon University are limbering up to take part in the next stage of a London 2012-affiliated sports engagement initiative this weekend.

Today (Sunday 11 December) from 11am to 2pm, the students will compete in the second round of ‘RGU’s Greatest Athlete’ – a seven-month series of Olympic sporting challenges and festivals run by staff and volunteers at the university’s state-of the-art sports facility, RGU: SPORT.

Hot on the heels of the programme’s successful launch on 18 November in which students cycled, rowed and swam for victory, today’s heat will see contestants battle it out over a table tennis match, a basketball game and a bleep test.

Directly after the challenge, contestants will join members of the student community to take part in a wheelchair basketball festival in the main sports hall. The workshop, which will run from 2.30pm to 4.30pm, is open to both disabled and non-disabled students and will include basic skills sessions before breaking out into games.

Upon its launch last month, RGU’s Greatest Athlete was granted the London 2012 Inspire mark - the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games.

Currently scheduling a series of engagements events that will run up to the summer games including the central multi-sport challenge, the volunteer team behind the programme aims to support the UK-wide campaign to increase grass root participation in sport and improve the performance of athletes.

This month’s event will promote, in particular, the incredible dedication of Paralympians. President of Sport and Physical Activity Nicola Scott has worked with colleagues at the university’s Disability and Dyslexia Service to deliver the post competition basketball festival. She explains:

“RGU’s Greatest Athlete is a platform for raising awareness and engagement levels in all sports and physical activity. The wheelchair basketball festival will give students, both disabled and non-disabled, the chance to experience first-hand how skilled paralympic athletes have to be to compete at their level. My colleagues on the volunteer committee and I think this will not only be a lot of fun, but a great inspiration for participations to reach their potential in terms of their health and well-being.

“The central challenge earlier in the afternoon will be packed with excitement and we would like to invite members of the public to come down and support the contestants in their Olympic-themed trial.”

The winners of today’s challenge will join heat-one winner, Robert Strachan, and runner up, Aimie Reid, in the final of the four-heat competition to decide who will claim the title of ‘RGU’s Greatest Athlete’.

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