The real Olympics may be going on in Tokyo right now, but a local canoeing club in south east London have seen their own share of sporting success this week, winning an amazing 13 medals at a youth event.
Meridian Canoe Club's young paddlers took part in the London Youth Games Kayak event on Saturday, and some impressive individual and team sports saw an impressive medal haul.
The canoe club were representing the boroughs of Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham in the showpiece event, and the group took home five golds, five silvers and three bronzes.
The group are based at Danson Lake and Crook Log Leisure Centre, and welcome all paddlers, young and not so young, beginners and experienced.
The gold medal in Senior Sprint and Senior Slalom was won by James Hurtt representing Bexley, the gold in Junior Sprint and Junior Slalom was won by Arina Kontchakov representing Lewisham and the gold medal for Team Slalom was won by Bexley.
The youngsters were coached to their success by Malcolm Blowers, Roman Kontchakov and Hilary & Peter Lawrence.
The London Youth Games is an annual multi-sport event held in the capital, and offers people aged seven to 18 the chance to compete in around 30 sports every year.
The paddlesports section this year was held at Fairlop Waters in Redbridge, with the whole event returning to action this summer after missing 2020 due to Covid-19.
For over 40 years, the London Youth Games has been using the power of competitive sport to create life-changing opportunities for young Londoners.
Operating across all 33 London boroughs, the London Youth Games reaches over 100,000 young Londoners annually,
An alumni of the games, Richard Hounslow, won an Olympic silver medal in the London 2012 games in the Kayak Slalom C2 competition.
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