In sport, summer, olympics, Attractions, sports & recreations, walks, nature, outdoors

As the Olympics is about to hit our screens, following on from the excitement of Euro 2024, we’re taking a look at sporting Leicester and Leicestershire. We have a gold standard pedigree here, with our teams and sports men and women really putting the county on the map.

Loughborough, the home of Team GB!

Loughborough University is a hotbed of sporting excellence with alumni and current students achieving huge success at the very highest levels of competitive sport, whether competing, managing or coaching. The University is also the home for UK’s anti-doping headquarters, tackling drug cheats in sport.

At the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, Loughborough-trained athletes brought back 35 medals, including 9 Gold, 12 Silver and 14 Bronze! That's three more than New Zealand! And if Loughborough had been registered as a country at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, they would have come sixth overall!

Loughborough University has a webpage tracking the success of all their affiliated athletes whether they studied at Loughborough, like Triathlete Beth Potter, Swimmer Laura Stephens, or pole vaulter Molly Caudery – or if they use the University as their training base, like heptathlete and world champion Katarina Johnson Thompson, European Championship discus silver medallist Lawrence Okoye or multiple Olympic gold medallist and world record holder swimmer Adam Peaty.

Our amazing teams

One of the most successful rugby teams of all time, the Leicester Tigers have won it all, and you can catch their games at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium. With a fantastic match day atmosphere including the players parade across the square in front of the stadium, not to mention the easiest chant in sport – all together now… TIIIIIIIIGEEEEEEERRRRSSS. And one of their women’s team, Meg Jones, has been selected for the Team GB Rugby Sevens squad.

Leicester City Football Club are back up in the Premier League after a year down in the Championship. The Foxes are one of only 5 clubs to win every major domestic trophy in the last 20 years. It’s been a turbulent time, but there’s one thing you can guarantee with City, you’ll never be bored! Leicester City Women reached the semi final of the FA Cup last season and their players who could feature in Paris include Courtney Nevin (Australia), Deanne Rose (Canada) and CJ Bott (New Zealand).

Leicester Riders are not only the oldest professional basketball club in the UK (and older than many of the famous NBA teams), they’re one of the most successful, winning six BBL championships, and the BBL Cup and BBL trophy three times each. They play at the Mattioli Woods Arena and game day is always filled with excitement and noise.

Something a little more genteel is the thwack of leather and willow and Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s ground of Grace Road is steeped in the history of cricket. Having won titles across all the disciplines, from the County Championship to Twenty20, the Running Foxes are still at the top of the game.

The Mattioli Woods Arena isn’t just home to basketball… recently it has become one of the leading venues for Snooker and Darts, hosting the PDC Players Championship and World Grand Prix featuring players like Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen, plus the World Snooker Tour Shootout, with previous events seeing the likes of Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and our very own Mark Selby take to the baize.

Trying it out yourself

If the Olympics has inspired you to try a new sport, there’s loads of venues around the county where you can give them a go. Alongside our leisure centres where you can try swimming, badminton, squash, table tennis and many more, there are lots of dedicated venues where you can learn a new sport.

Try out some target sports with archery and shooting at Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre. As they’re located right next to the River Soar, you can also try out kayaking and other watersports there too!

Target Shooting is also available out in the county at the award-winning Field Sport UK. They offer a great package of speed shooting, moving target shooting and pistol shooting, all under the experienced eye of their expert instructors.

The summer is the perfect time to get into open water swimming, and Leicestershire has some fantastic venues for you to try out this invigorating pastime. Stoney Cove is located in a disused spring-fed quarry which is also home to the National Diving Centre, and Frisby Lakes near Melton is used as a training venue by British Triathalon and also offers kayaking and paddlesports!

Golf is a relatively new addition to the Olympics, becoming part of the programme in 2016 (although it was on the roster in 1900 and 1904!) and there are loads of places to tee off around Leicestershire. At Leicester Golf Centre you can learn at your own pace in their relaxed environment. Sessions with top pros are available and their state of the art Toptracer technology allows you to analyse the accuracy, speed and distance of your shots.

Mountain Biking made its Olympic debut in 1996 and you can test your skills at Snibston Colliery Park’s track, made on the original colliery spoil heap. Cycle over 4km of jumps and bumps that take you twisting and turning through physically and technically demanding tracks. Or for a slightly more sedate cycling experience, you can hop onto an e-bike and cycle through the heart of the National Forest, experiencing this beautiful part of the world at a slower pace. While it might not be a Bradley Wiggins-esque sprint, the hills will certainly get your heart pumping.

Equestrian activities are the order of the day with horse riding experiences at the Charnwood Forest Alpacas. Trot, canter or gallop through the beautiful Leicestershire countryside with help from the experienced handlers as you build a bond with your horse.

Sport climbing will be coming to Paris 2024 with two disciplines, speed climbing and a combination of bouldering and lead climbing. You can test your skills out at Social Climbing Leicester, a fantastic indoor climbing space where you can scale walls of all difficulties. Suitable for the whole family and from beginners to experts!

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