Anthony Curton Primary School in Wisbech held a special Sports for Champions event where pupils were treated to a visit from retired British track and field athlete James Dasaolu.

Students were inspired to find out about James’ career as a 100 metres specialist and hear what it felt like to be a gold medal winning 2014 European champion.

Pupils from all years got the chance to chat to James and find out what it takes to compete at such a high level, with a busy Q & A session fuelled by the excitement of the children.

Class teacher Lauren Wiles said: “We were honoured to have James visit our school and pass on so much knowledge and inspiration to our pupils. They loved hearing his story and finding out what life as an athlete is like. They had loads of questions and were very engaged and full of energy after.”

The event was organised through the organisation Sports for Champions UK which is on a mission to educate, enable and empower youth in line with the national agenda for child welfare, public health, and safety. The team is represented by a host of world-class athletic talents who inspire children as champions of tomorrow in their performance as pro, para, and Olympic athletes.

For Anthony Curton pupils, the session wasn’t all about chatting – some sports training had to happen too.

James put the pupils and teachers through their paces with some high intensity training, helping the children to work up a sweat and get a glimpse of the hard work that goes into being an elite athlete.

Miss Wiles added: “The children were very impressed by knowing that James became the second fastest Briton of all time after running a 100m time of 9.91 seconds in the British Championships. Those who love running got lots of tips and I’m sure that some of our pupils will have been inspired to consider doing more sport, which is great.”

As part of the event, the children took part in sporting fundraising to help raise money for Sports for Champions UK, which raises money for schools and for young athletes who face financial barriers.

Pupil Archie Brockwell said: “It was a fun but hard afternoon” with fellow student Teddy Young adding that the day was really interesting and “James was inspiring.”

Miss Wiles added: “This was a wonderful event that we hope to repeat. It’s always great to have guests in school to inspire our wonderful students and this was no exception. We all enjoyed meeting James and the pupils were full of beans for some time after!”