Tanni visits Teesside’s world of sport

Britain’s best-known paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson is to deliver a free public lecture at the University of Teesside on Wednesday 11 February, 6.30pm - 8.00pm. It will be held at the University’s Europa Building, off Woodlands Road, Middlesbrough.

In her lecture, entitled Fulfilling your Potential, Tanni will be discussing her amazing career, which includes 13 paralympic medals and five London Wheelchair Marathon wins. She will also talk about the process of motivating yourself to achieve your own personal goals.

Prior to the lecture, Tanni will be touring the University’s recently opened £6.5m Olympia Building on Victoria Road, Middlesbrough, to look at its facilities. There will be an opportunity to photograph Tanni in the Olympia Building at 5pm on Wednesday 11 February. Please call Stephen Laing on 01642 342962, mobile 07810 658923.

Jocelyn Tantawy, a physiologist and joint field leader for Sport & Exercise in the School of Social Sciences & Law, said: “It is an absolutely fantastic development and will greatly enhance both the teaching and recreational facilities at the University of Teesside. The Olympia Building will allow us to develop our athletes, particularly those from the region, and maximize their potential so that they can compete on the world stage.”

Features include an outdoor all-weather floodlit synthetic playing field, the size of an 11-aside football pitch or three 5-aside soccer pitches. Inside the building is a sports hall the size of six badminton courts, capable of staging major basketball and other sporting tournaments. It also has bleacher seating for 400 spectators, and two new squash courts.

Tanni’s lecture is part of the University’s Honorary and Professorial Public Lecture Series. She received an Honorary Master of Science degree from the University of Teesside in 2001.

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