north west for 2012

This week Team GB is certainly living up to the Twitter hashtag #OurGreatestTeam! With an impressive medal haul putting us firmly in third place on the table, we’re especially proud of the contribution that our talented North West athletes have made.

If you’re on Twitter you can follow our list of North West Olympic Athletes @NWfor2012 for all the latest news from the Olympic Village.

North West medallists so far include:

Cycling

• Ed Clancy from Newton-le-Willows won gold in the men’s team pursuit and bronze in the omnium
• Wilmslow-based Victoria Pendleton grabbed Gold in the women’s keirin
• Geraint Thomas, based in Manchester, won Gold in the men’s team pursuit
• Sir Chris Hoy, who trains in Manchester, won Gold in the men’s team sprint
• Laura Trott, also based in Manchester, won Gold in the women’s team pursuit
• Bradley Wiggins, based in Chorley, won Gold in the men’s individual time trial
• Lancashire’s Steven Burke won Gold in the men’s team pursuit
• Lucy Martin from Widnes played a key supporting role in Lizzie Armitstead's silver medal in the women's road race 

Sailing

• Macclesfield born Ben Ainslie won his fourth consecutive Gold medal to seal his place as the most prolific Olympic sailor ever

Canoeing

• Manchester born Etienne Stott took Gold in the men’s canoe double C2

Rowing

• Warrington’s Richard Egington and Matthew Langridge from Northwich won Bronze in the men’s eight

Showjumping

• Liverpool born Peter Charles jumped the final clear to clinch the Gold as part of the GB Showjumping team

Here in the North West we’ve seen some great crowds at Old Trafford with two matches still to be played this week. Tonight there’s the women’s semi-final with Canada facing the USA. Then the final match tomorrow sees Korea take on the mighty Brazil in the men’s semi-final. You can still buy tickets for tonight’s match (Monday 6 August). Again, the advice from organisers is get there early to collect your tickets to avoid the queues.

We’ve also been taking a keen interest in athletes from around the world who were based in the North West at Pre Games Training Camps. The team at Inspire mark project The Reporters’ Academy have been following all the action – look out for their excellent reports and blogs from the heart of the action at London 2012.

Meanwhile, the media are talking about the importance of the Games in our region, with the Guardian asking ‘Has the north finally learned to love the Olympics?’. Read what Guardian political commentator Ed Jacobs and our very own Andy Worthington had to say.

Enjoy the rest of the Games, and don’t forget you can upload your photos and comments to the site if you sign up for the WE PLAY Challenge – it’s free and only takes a minute to play your part in the legacy of the Games here in the North West!