Culture Secretary Sajid Javid met the teams behind some of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic success last Thursday, during a special visit to the University of Bath Sport Training Village.
Javid was given a tour of the £30 million facility in Somerset, which acts as a training base for some of the country’s finest athletes including Sochi 2014 gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold (skeleton), and London 2012 medallists Paul Blake (athletics), Michael Jamieson (swimming) and Samantha Murray (modern pentathlon).
During the visit he participated in a Modern Pentathlon training session and was shown the training village’s fencing sale and the English Institute of Sport (EIS) High Performance Gym.
He also inspected the new £1.65million London 2012 Legacy swimming pool, which was used for training at the games, before attending a training session with Pentathlon GB.
Javid further met with the teams behind some of sports’ biggest household names.
Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This prestigious centre and its training teams have contributed to the success of some of our greatest Olympians.
“Look no further than Lizzy Yarnold’s recent career grand slam and you will see how key these facilities are as a resource to our athletes.”
The University of Bath Sport Training Village is one of nine EIS High Performance Centres and receives government support through UK Sport, Sport England and lottery funding.
Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, said: “It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to show the Secretary of State our world-class sporting environment, in particular our London 2012 Legacy Pool which is due to open next month.
“He seemed particularly impressed by the fact that the facilities enable students and members of the public to train alongside world-class athletes.”
Chief Executive of UK Sport Liz Nicholl said: “High Performance Centres such as the one at the English Institute for Sport centre at the University of Bath are vital in ensuring the continued success of British athletes on the world stage.
“Recent results such as Lizzy Yarnold’s Skeleton World Championship crown as well as Samantha Murray and Jamie Cooke’s wins at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup go to prove the impact of World Class facilities in Britain.”
This world-leading sports environment for elite athletes and those at recreation level, boasts top of the range training facilities including:
- a 50m pool,
- a fully-equipped gym,
- 400m athletics track,
- shooting ranges,
- skeleton and bobsleigh push start track,
- physiotherapy and medical treatment centre,
- physiology lab and video analysis suite.
