Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson was on had at Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton, where she was giving a talk, but also helping out pass over the Wolvolympic torch between two schools. We find out more.
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00:00I'm here with 11-time Paralympic gold medallist Baradice Tanigray-Thompson
00:05to talk about the Baton Relay and about the power of the Olympics itself.
00:09So, how shall I address you, Tani or Marlene?
00:12Tani, thank you.
00:13It's good to double check these things.
00:14So tell me how it feels to be here today to help with this Baton Relay.
00:18Oh, it's been so lovely. So I've been speaking at a conference, which is to headteachers,
00:22and then we've done the torch handover.
00:25And it's just amazing how many schools have been involved. It was 92 miles.
00:28It's incredible because then all the young people think about the Olympic spirit,
00:33which is about Olympic truce and being nice to each other and sport.
00:36And it's just been lovely.
00:37And with Paris coming up, it'll just get them thinking a bit differently about things.
00:42And that's the thing with the Olympics and the Paralympics coming up,
00:44it's good to be able to share that spirit even hundreds of miles away from us.
00:48Absolutely.
00:49And you're never too young to learn about the Games, about the history.
00:56It's about coming together.
00:58And, yeah, OK, it's about winning medals.
01:00But the spirit in the village, you meet people from different countries,
01:04different cultures, learn different things about each other.
01:07It's important that the young people learn that.
01:09And you've had the experience of five Paralympics and 11 gold medals from that.
01:13There's a lot, obviously, that you can share from that.
01:15Not just about the medal winning, but also about the experience, the whole occasion.
01:20Yeah, so for me, the only time I was ever alone was that final bit when I was on the track
01:24and I had coaches, training partners, loads of people who helped and supported me.
01:27And that's the reality.
01:29If you're going to be good at something in your life, you never just do it on your own.
01:32You have people around you.
01:33And that's some of the things I've been talking about today.
01:36So, yeah, hopefully it's a positive message.
01:40And obviously share that experience of carrying the Olympic torch yourself.
01:43Yeah, I've been very lucky to do that. I did it in London.
01:45But, you know, this is pretty cool, though, isn't it?
01:48It's so nice for all of them.
01:52And all the little ones joining in with the ribbons and everything else.
01:55It's a lovely celebration.
01:57Who knows, maybe you can inspire one of them to go forward to the Olympics,
02:00or if they have to, the Paralympics, and be able to compete at that level
02:04and just enjoy the experience of being there.
02:06Sport and physical activity is really important, whoever you are.
02:09It's important to be active.
02:11If that takes you into any sport, that's brilliant.
02:13But actually being active for the whole of our lives is really important to me.
02:17And it's good to see the city of Wolverhampton doing something like this to involve the kids as well.
02:20Wolverhampton has been brilliant.
02:22I mean, I've had a lovely day here, and, you know,
02:24the amount of planning that goes into making something like this happen for the youngsters is huge.
02:29Having a great time, look, you know, that's what it's all about.