Four former pupils competed at the Olympic Games in Paris – with two coming home with Olympic medals.
Congratulations to our Olympic Alumni, who gained more Olympic medals in the Paris Games than Cyprus, Fiji, Peru, Slovakia and Singapore, and the same number as Malaysia, Albania, Morocco and Chile! Four former pupils competed at the Olympic Games in Paris – with two returning home with Olympic medals.
Rower Matt Aldridge won bronze in the men’s coxless fours. Emma Wilson won her second Olympic windsurfing bronze in the iQFoil class, following her success in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Sailor Hannah Snellgrove’s Olympic debut saw her competing in the ILCA class, winning two races but ultimately finishing in 12th place. While Tim Nurse, who was on the team GB hockey team initially as a sub, played in the pool stage match against Germany – and so is now officially an Olympian.
Rower Matt Aldridge won Bronze in the men’s coxless fours. Emma Wilson won her second Olympic windsurfing Bronze in the iQFoil class, following her success in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Sailor Hannah Snellgrove’s Olympic debut saw her competing in the ILCA class, winning two races but ultimately finishing in 12th place. While Tim Nurse, who was on the Team GB Hockey team initially as a sub, played in the pool stage match against Germany – and so is now officially an Olympian.
As well as the four Olympians, Ballard is proud to count among its alumni a Gold-medal winning Paralympic swimmer, Mikey Jones MBE, who won Gold at the Rio games.
As with Mikey, all four of our recent Olympians are remembered well for their talents and determination while at Ballard. As well as being Head Boy, Matt was also Captain of Rugby. Always a brilliant athlete, he still holds the school high jump record, and his school javelin record has only recently been beaten. Matt’s rowing journey started at Ballard when his father set up a rowing club at school. Emma was an outstanding hockey player and footballer; she was part of the Ballard team that won the New Forest Girl’s football championship – despite none of the pupils playing football outside of school. Tim was also outstanding at anything he put his hand to in sport during his time at Ballard. Hannah was more into her academic life than sport, until she discovered sailing!
Headmaster Andrew McCleave said:
“We are so proud of our former pupils and their achievements. Whilst it was clear they were destined for great things whilst here, it is fantastic that they have shown the determination and resilience to make it all the way to the Olympics. We have been delighted to welcome each of them back to school over the last few years where they have entertained our pupils with tales of their life at Ballard.
It is fantastic that they also talk about how the Ballard values have stood them in such good stead over the years. All of us at Ballard have been behind them during these Paris Games and we congratulate them on their successes. We look forward to welcoming them back soon.”
