Pupils watch as speed skater crashes at Olympics

Pupils at a Warwickshire school watched nervously as a former pupil crashed out of the Winter Olympics in Italy.

Niall Treacy, 25 and from Alcester, fell in the heats of the 1000m short track speed skating after colliding with a Canadian competitor, but still has chances of a medal in the 500m and 1500m events.

He was being cheered on by current pupils at his old school, St Benedict's Catholic High School in Alcester, after the head of PE organised a watch party.

The teacher, Kieran Alford, said: "This is for them to see that an ex-student can get to a top level in sport, compete, and that might be them one day."

Alford said he hoped seeing someone who had sat in the same seats just a few years before would provide an inspiration to the current cohort.

"It does take a lot of hard work, it does take dedication, it takes passion. You have to find that sport or that thing in life that you want to do really well, work really, really hard at. And if they do that, they can get to this level," he said.

Despite the result, seeing a former pupil racing on the world stage went down well with those watching.

Arina, aged 12, said: "It's really cool, and I feel like it's a really good opportunity for him and for us to see how he did and, overall, I think he did really well, even though he lost."

Tui, 11, said: "It's very inspiring. You can look up to him and try and be like him. And it's a great opportunity to watch the Olympics in school time, so we can be inspired by them."

St Benedict's has also produced former Olympic hurdler Andrew Pozzi, who represented Great Britain in the 110m race at London in 2012, although a hamstring injury meant he could not finish.

He did, however, go on to take gold in the 60m indoor hurdles at the European Championships in 2017 and at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham the following year.

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