The Maldives Olympic Team get down to Pre-Games Training Here in Bedford Borough

Here in Bedford Borough we can proudly boast that we are hosting more Olympic and Paralympic teams for pre-games training camps than any other town outside games venues such as London or Weymouth. The Maldives Olympic Team is already here, and I'm delighted to welcome them to Bedford. It's an honour for us to be hosting teams as they prepare for the Olympics and Paralympics, and I hope that the Maldives team enjoy their stay here, and go on to have a successful Games.

Their accommodation has been provided at the University of Bedfordshire's Polhill Campus in Bedford, and I'm sure they are discovering a warm welcome here. They are undertaking a number of community-based activities, and just this morning they were meeting and greeting people in the town centre at a stall set up amongst the market.

The photo you can see here is of the team being presented to the crowd at the recent Bedford International Games at the Bedford International Athletics Stadium. Alongside them is my Council Cabinet colleague and Leisure and Culture Portfolio Holder Cllr Doug McMurdo. Apologies for the poor quality of the photo!

With the torch coming to the Borough very soon (Sunday 8th July - clear your diary!) and events such as the official Olympic 'Live Site' festival of sport at the stadium during the Games, there are numerous ways in which the Olympic experience is coming to Bedford Borough during this great summer (event-wise, if not weather-wise!). The day of the torch relay will also see the unveiling of a plaque to mark the Bedford birthplace of a the great Olympian Harold Abrahams, who won Olympic Gold in 1924 and whose story was immortalised in the film 'Chariots of Fire.'