ONE year after London wowed the world by winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games, Ipswich's sporting fraternity is more confident than ever that the town will share in the spoils of the games.

ONE year after London wowed the world by winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games, Ipswich's sporting fraternity is more confident than ever that the town will share in the spoils of the games.

After a frenetic year of building the foundations for Ipswich's own Olympic glory the key players behind Team Ipswich, the group responsible for championing sport in the town, say good progress has been made in the past 12 months.

As preparations have got under way in London so too have preparations been made locally to ensure that the Olympics don't pass Ipswich by.

Judy Terry, Ipswich Borough Council's leisure spokeswoman, said: “The year has gone very quickly.

“Team Ipswich has come a long, long way in a relatively short time.

“That's only been possible with the fantastic backing we've had, both from international athletes, local sports men and women, businesses and the community itself.”

Today London was hosting a day of celebration to mark the anniversary of the announcement in Singapore that London had won the right to host the games.

At the centre of Ipswich's preparations for the games is Team Ipswich's Elite Squad and Futures Squad, which contain the town's best sports people and most promising young sportspeople respectively.

The borough has given these sports stars of the present and future unprecedented support to help their development and give them the best chance of success.

Olympic veteran Karen Pickering, Ipswich's first sports ambassador, has led the way in championing the town's sports people and in calling for every effort to be made to attract competing teams to establish pre-Olympic training camps in and around Ipswich.

Crucial to achieving all those aims is the financial support which has come from businesses, who have shown a willingness to get involved and an awareness that exposure through sport can also work in their favour.

But Mrs Terry said the staging of the Olympics in London, and the activities of Team Ipswich, were not just about cashing in on the Games.

She said: “Team Ipswich is not just about maximising the opportunities that the 2012 games will bring. It is also key for us to develop sport at all levels throughout the community to get Ipswich fitter and to get the town recognised as the sports capital of the region.”

Weblink: www.ipswich.gov.uk