Guatemala has never won an Olympic medal but with more athletes than ever already qualified for London 2012, they’re going for gold!
One hundred days from now, the eyes of the world will be turn to the UK and to our stunning new Olympic park as, nation by nation, athletes parade into the stadium for a spectacular opening ceremony. Amongst them will be the 12 Guatemalans that have so far qualified, who will proudly accompany the Guatemalan flag and represent a nation that is already so proud of them even before a starting gun has been fired. We’ll be cheering loudly for all of them!
The Chair of LOCOG, and Olympic Gold medallist, Lord Coe has said, “London 2012 will be a summer of sport and celebration like no other. But it will only be the start of the journey”. Our hope is to create a legacy which endures long after the closing ceremony. A sporting legacy was at the heart of our Olympic bid. We wanted to harness the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire more young people into sport, and not just in Britain but all around the world, including in Guatemala.
So now that we’ve entered the final sprint, it seemed fitting therefore to celebrate 100 days to go until London 2012 by visiting our good friends at Escuela Proyecto La Esperanza in Jocotenango where we will be holding a series of 100 metre sprints with the children. Who knows, we may discover a future Olympian! We’ll also be there to present prizes to one each of the winners and runners up who took part in our Olympic poster competition in March. This school, run by the British charitable organisation Education for the Children to provide an education to children from poor communities around Antigua, has also benefitted in the past few years from funds raised at our charity British Ball, and it’s great to visit again and see the school in action!
Promoting sporting legacies was also behind our decision to support this year a street soccer project with the organisation Bureau of Public Investments (BIP, in Spanish) that aims to regenerate disused urban areas into football pitches for poor local communities in Guatemala City. We’ll be working with them closely this year in the spirit of the Olympics. Urban regeneration has also been a theme in London where a once neglected industrialised area has been transformed into an urban park for the 21st century – our web site has a load of information about this and the Games.
One hundred days from now, we look forward to welcoming Guatemala’s athletes, officials and spectators and those just wanting to soak up the incredible atmosphere – you’re all invited! And even better news for Guatemalans is that you do not need a visa to visit the UK. What’s stopping you?!