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Liz McColgan: 'UK not prepared for Olympic legacy'

McColgan: 'UK not prepared for Olympic legacy'
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Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan believes that parts of the UK were not prepared for this summer's Games to 'inspire a generation'.

1988 Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan has criticised the country's readiness to deal with the influx of involvement following this summer's Games.

The London Olympics were considered a roaring success, inspiring many youngsters to take up various sports in an attempt to emulate their sporting idols.

However, McColgan believes that some areas of the country were not prepared for the Games to 'inspire a generation'.

"I still coach kids who are paying £3 to get into a track that has very bad lighting. I can't see them in the winter time. There's only one toilet. There's no drinks available," she told Scottish politicians.

"It's quite sad that we've had so much success at the Olympics, and we've got 112 kids who all want to be like Mo Farah, and I can see that the cycle track that's just 100m along across the park is exactly the same, the swimming clubs are exactly the same. Were we prepared? No we weren't.

"We are probably going to let down a lot kids who are so enthused from the success that we had. Kids nowadays have got a great access to television. I didn't have that in my day. They see it and they want it. I feel the Government, the associations have let us down because we are not prepared to deal with all these kids that want to be the next Chris Hoy or Kat Grainger."

McColgan experienced a successful career as a 10,000m runner, winning two Commonwealth and one World Championship gold medal in addition to her Olympic prize.

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