Welcome to Lewisham's Olympic and Paralympic legacy for 2012
Shaun McKeown during the Parade through London, 10th September 2012

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games began on Friday 27th July with the opening ceremony taking place at the Olympic Stadium. The Games ran from 27th July to 12th August and the Paralympics from 29th August to 9th September.

As part of the celebrations the Olympic Torch visited the borough on Monday 23rd July, the Paralympic Torch Relay visited the borough on Wednesday 29th August and Lewisham Council hosted the Lewisham Big Screen on Blackheath Common.

Lewisham Heritage has created this wiki to record the achievements of past Lewisham Olympians and Paralympians and to enable the community to create their own record of the London 2012 experience. You can find information on all the known Olympic and Paralympic participants with a borough connection, plus details of the 1908 and 1948 London Games. We now know of some 56 participants with a Lewisham link, who between them they have won 9 gold medals, 11 silver and 7 bronze. If you know of anyone who is not listed, please let us know.

As part of this project we are asking for your memories and recollections of London 1948 - the last time London hosted the Olympics. Do you have any photographs or memorabilia, do you remember the 1948 Games - were you taken to them or did your older relatives tell you about them? We also want your experiences of the 2012 Games - did you go to any events, were you a volunteer, what did you enjoy most, how did the Games affect you?

The Olympic Torch Relay in Deptford, 23rd July 2012

Read John Philips' recollections of the 1948 opening ceremony and Celia Capron's memory of taking her mother and brother to watch Emil Zatopek

Please share your memories, experiences and photos with us.

You can do this in several ways -

  • by adding information to this wiki - go to Adding your voice
  • You can also email contributions to us at ku.vog.mahsiwel|seiduts.lacol#ku.vog.mahsiwel|seiduts.lacol
  • You can post them to Lewisham Heritage, Lewisham Library, 199-201 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6LG
  • You can drop them off at any local library in Lewisham. Please mark them for the Lewisham Heritage team.
Olympic flag handover at Cornhill Gardens

All the information provided will be added to the borough archives. We will be recording memories of the 1948 Games to ensure they survive and will also be creating a new archive of the London 2012 games for the use of future generations.


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