Search The Streets - Campbell
Tue 20 Sep
Darren Campbell has urged British athletics to look to the inner cities to find the talent capable of striking gold at the London Olympics in 2012.
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The sprint star has helped to promote the Street Athletics programme in recent years, designed to help encourage participation among children in the under-privileged areas of his native Manchester.
But as questions continue to be raised about Britain’s ability to nurture genuine medal contenders in time for the showpiece Games on home soil in seven years’ time, Campbell believes there is a danger that some stars of the future could be going un-noticed.
Speaking at football’s inaugural FIFPro World XI Player Awards in London last night where he presented an award, Campbell said: "The talent is there in this country but we are not looking for it in the right places.
"We need more investment at the grass roots but in that we also need to go to the right areas.
"We need to go to the council estates and areas like that. That is where the talent is
“That is why I have set up Street Athletics, where we go into the rough areas of Manchester and try and get the best out of the kids.”
Campbell himself came from such a background, growing up in the notorious Moss Side area of Manchester, before developing into one of the finest sprinters the country has ever seen.
And the 32-year-old, who was part of the British 4x100m relay team which struck gold at the Athens Games last summer, believes his success and that achieved by the likes of his mentor Linford Christie is evidence the inner cities hold the key to the future.
“That is where I have come from,” he added. "And it is no secret that that is where Linford Christie came from - and he is the most successful sprinter in British athletics.
“If we want that talent it is there, but we have got to look in the right places.”