World champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards visited Much Wenlock with a message of encouragement for “people to be the best they can be”.

The Olympic gold medallist attended a special assembly at Much Wenlock Primary School yesterday where he showed pupils his gold medal and gave an inspirational talk in the build up to London 2012 games.

He then went on to the Linden Fields, where the first Olympian games took place in 1850, and dedicated a tree in memory of the former president of the Wenlock Olympian Society.

See our photo gallery here

For video click here

The world record holder for the triple jump since 1995 said he was involved with sport at school and was “naturally good” at jumps, adding: “I then trained seriously when I left university.”

He said: “With 2012 coming up there is a lot of focus on sport, where the aspiration with the games in London is to encourage every- body and inspire people to be the best they can be.

“Much Wenlock was inspirational in the modern Olympic movement, with the idea of establishing the Olympics by combining sport with education.”

Mr Edwards, who is a board member of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said there was a number of ways Shropshire could get involved with the build up to the 2012 games.

“The Olympics is a great tourism offer – all eyes will be on London and the great untold story of Much Wenlock, and William Penny Brookes,” he added.

School head Ruth Atkinson said: “It has been really exciting having Mr Edwards here. The children have been looking forward to it for days. We marked out his record-breaking jump so they could really appreciate how far it was.

“He made the children reflect on our school values and made a great point about doing your best and he pointed out how many different ways there are to show talent.”

By Rachael Lowe