THE 2012 Olympics are now just over 900 days away and Ipswich's Tower Ramparts was taken over by local athletes, students and entertainers recently to mark '2012 Day'.

THE 2012 Olympics are now just over 900 days away and Ipswich's Tower Ramparts was taken over by local athletes, students and entertainers recently to mark '2012 Day'.

Central to the celebrations was a special presentation of cheques totalling �3,450.

This money, from the Team Ipswich Sports Foundation, is given out to local talent to support them in their chosen sport.

It was the highest amount that the Foundation has ever paid out to local athletes and Ipswich Speedway's Chris Louis, who is a Trustee of the Team Ipswich Sports Foundation, presented the awards to the successful athletes.

The successful athletes were:

Tom Nicolaou, 11, Pipers Vale Gymnastics.

Molly Taylor, 11, Pipers Vale Gymnastics.

Natasha Wood, 17, Pegasus Trampoline Club.

Charlotte Stark, 15, Ipswich Judo Club.

Benjamin Mead, 14, Ipswich Basketball Club.

Elizabeth Thurlow, 14, Ipswich Basketball Club.

Darren Mitchell, 21, Ipswich Town Disabled Football Club.

James Scott, 16, Ipswich YMCA Badminton Club.

George Isherwood, 14, Suffolk Badminton Academy.

Shoppers in Tower Ramparts, joined a Q&A session with elite athletes Helen Decker, Nicky Hunt, Michael Peart and Richard Wilkins, and were treated to a special performance of a Michael Jackson tribute dance created by students from Stoke High School with DanceEast.

Team Ipswich would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved and in particular to Hughes Electrical for donating a PA system and Microphone and to Suffolk New College students who helped with fundraising on the day.