Arlene in gold medal glory at children's games

Jul 1 2009 by Kenny Smith, Rutherglen Reformer

A CAMBUSLANG athlete played her part in helping Team Lanarkshire, Scotland's only representatives at the International Children's Games in Athens, to come home with a magnificent medal haul.

Cambuslang's Arlene Barr (14) was part of the team who destroyed the field to win gold in the 4x100m relay in 49.7s on Friday.

Arlene, a pupil at Cathkin High, teamed up with East Kilbride's Rachel Whittle, (14), daughter of Scottish track star Brian, Hamilton's Mhairi Hendry (13) and Emma Brown (14) from East Kilbride, who took the gold.

They were part of Lanarkshire's 19-strong team of young athletes, who set off last Tuesday, June 23, on their medal trail, before finishing on Saturday.

The girls won Lanarkshire’s only gold, with the team picking up two silver, for boys' football and girls' 100m, and four bronze, in the girls' 100m backstroke, boys' 400m freestyle, girls' 50m backstroke and girls' high jump.

The Athens squad competed on the world stage in track, tennis, football and swimming events at the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games.

The squad were waved off by family and friends and had a message of support from Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond.

Michael McCann, co-chair of Lanarkshire 2011 said having Athens as the venue was extra special for the team.

Councillor McCann said: "Athens is the spiritual home of the modern Olympics and this undoubtedly gives the event an even greater sense of occasion.

"Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004 and is a city steeped in history, so it is a great opportunity for our young athletes to compete in this environment.”

The International Children's Games was born out of the simple and meaningful vision of Yugoslavian professor Metod Klemenc to "promote peace and friendship through sports to the world's youth".

To that end he organised the first games in 1968 with teams from nine European cities participating.