OLYMPIC athlete Iwan Thomas has formally launched the St Albans and Harpenden Leadership Academy for all schools in the district as part of the School Sports Partnership.

Iwan gave 150 pupils a motivational speech about his progress in athletics and the value and impact that teachers, mentors and leaders had on his career at the University of Hertfordshire’s sports village.

Selected pupils from schools across the district will be trained at the academy to become sports leaders. There they will learn teamwork, ideas for activities and more about the Olympic and Paralympic values and how to utilise these back in their schools. A spokesperson for the partnership said: “The day has been a great success and the students are really enthused about sports leadership in their schools and local communities. We look forward to seeing and hearing about the work they do off the back of today’s event.”

One student said “I hadn’t realised what an important person I am – my role involves promoting sport, activity and the Olympics to all the children in my school.”