Daley Thompson: "English Schools holds a very special place in people’s hearts"
Daley Thompson is one of the most decorated British athletes in history. He has become Olympic decathlon champion twice, was world champion at Helsinki 1983 and is also a two-time European and three-time Commonwealth champion.
Like so many others before and after him, Thompson started out at the English Schools Championships and in 1974 came fourth in the inter boys 200m before going on to win the 200m a year later. This was before he decided to do the decathlon, which is rather remarkable given the then 17-year-old finished 18th in the event at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Two weeks ago Thompson came out in support of English Schools Athletic Association (ESAA) – given the organisation may not make its centenary year in 2025 due to financial struggles after New Balance chose not to renew their sponsorship agreement – after they set up a crowdfunding page to raise £100k to fund this year's Track and Field Championships.
He tweeted: "Save the ESAA Track & Field Championships. This is the greatest athletics championship in the world.
“Sorry Olympics but you are a close second. They [ESAA] are only three years off being 100! They are also the first port of call for aspiring Olympians. Your tenner will help.”
Save the 2022 ESAA Track & Field Championships https://t.co/ThWasUx8S0 This is the greatest athletics championship in the world,sorry Olympics but you are a close2nd.They are only3years off being100! They are also the 1st port of call for aspiring Olympians.Your tenner will help
— Daley Thompson (@Daley_thompson) February 3, 2022
Now, in an exclusive interview with AW, the double Olympic decathlon champion reiterates his support for the organisation.
"When I was young and growing up everyone wanted to go to the English Schools and win it," Thompson said. "It was absolutely and utterly the biggest competition in the whole world for us. I think it holds a very special place in people’s hearts.
"I think it would be a huge loss to athletics and to the foundations of sport. It really is, or at least it used to be, the place to go. Anybody in our sport has either gone there or attempted to go there.
"I was looking at the previous winners of English Schools that have gone on to the Olympics and the list was endless so that was really good to note that they’d started their journey at English Schools. It’s the beginning for everybody."
In total, 135 English Schools athletes have won European Championship medals, 35 of them gold while 278 have collected medals at British Empire or Commonwealth Games, of which 81 have claimed gold.
The ESAA has produced 14 Olympic champions and 77 medallists, with Sir Mo Farah the most recent, as well as 71 World Championship medals, of which 13 were gold, the most recent including Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson in 2019.
One athlete who helped inspire Daley Thompson in his younger days was European 100m bronze medallist and 60m champion Andrea Lynch, who herself won the English Schools 100m title in 1970 and 200m title in 1971.
"One of the people that I used to see on a regular basis when I was training at Crystal Palace was Andrea [Lynch] who was a sprinter," Thompson adds. "She was always talking about athletics and encouraged me to give up football and she was coached by Tom McNab who was the national decathlon coach at the time. I think one of the nice things about athletics is that most of the stars are very approachable, they’re down to earth and they’re happy to give advice.
"I kind of started athletics a little bit at school when I was 14 but they didn’t pick me to go to the English Schools that year. Then in my second year, which I think was 1974, I went and came fourth in the 200m. I guess since becoming a teenager I found out about those championships and it was the most important target until I had bigger fish to fry.
"My coach Bob Mortimer was the one who I suggested that I try decathlon. He definitely must’ve seen something that I didn’t see as I wanted to be the world’s fastest man. I had no idea why he asked me but luckily he sent me in a different direction. It was only at the Olympics that I realised that multi events took place at English Schools."
Thompson was also an ambassador for London 2012 and argued during the process that it was vital that the Olympics benefit kids' education and how they relate to sport at a young age.
READ MORE: Save our Schools!
The Commonwealth Games provide an opportunity to continue that 'inspiring a generation' legacy from the Olympics a decade ago. The revamped Alexander Stadium – a host of a myriad of English Schools Track & Field Championships since it was originally built in 1976 – could be a permanent base for the future championships.
"It’s 90% of people’s first taste of championship running," Thompson said. "You have to go to a cool room, wait around for 20 minutes, you kind of half warm down during that down time and you don’t know how you will react going into the stadium.
"It’s brilliant because there’s not that much pressure, you can enjoy it and also see if it’s the kind of thing that you want to do in the future. The experience is invaluable.
"Sports always expected kids to come through the doors whereas kids now are more entertained with other things. So make athletics more presentable and fun."
» So far ESAA has raised over £27k via Crowdfunding and you can donate here.
