Athletics champion Colin Jackson said Britain should be “embarrassed” if it did not grab the chances offered by next year’s Olympic Games.
During a visit to Wimbledon on Tuesday, the former world champion hurdler said the games were a chance to help young people get active.
He said: “We should be embarrassed as a nation if we don’t embrace it.”
“The most important thing is that children see sport at a high level, then they realise they’re capable of doing it themselves.”
He picked British athletes Greg Rutherford and Dai Greene as outside tips for success in 2012.
Jackson visited Tesco in the Broadway to champion the Great School Run, a kids’ sport challenge backed by the supermarket chain.
He competed against two pupils from Holy Trinity School in a virtual running race using the Wii video game console - including Luke Kelly, the millionth child to sign up to the run.
He said: “They annihilated me.”
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