‘Home away from home’ to help Team GB prepare

THE British Olympic Association is hopeful a “home away from home” at their preparatory camp in Belo Horizonte can inspire Team GB’s athletes to reach their Rio 2016 medal target.

Competitors from athletics, swimming, boxing, table tennis, judo, weightlifting, archery, shooting, canoe sprint, rugby sevens and fencing are due in Brazil’s sixth biggest city over the coming days to complete their final preparations ahead of the Games.

As well as Olympic-sized swimming pools and Team GB-branded weights, Union Jack-branded doormats are intended to make the athletes feel in familiar surroundings prior to their gold medal bids.

The aim is to return home with 48 medals across all disciplines and there will be inspirational reminders of London 2012 and the successes enjoyed by Jessica Ennis-Hill and Chris Froome playing on TV screens for the Rio-bound athletes in Belo Horizonte.

Paul Ford, who has headed the operation for the past five years, said: “We want to give them a home away from home, the best platform to do what they are absolutely capable of achieving. Their results over the past year have shown it.

“We are in a really great spot. We want to help them get to where they need to go and achieve that excellence in Rio in the biggest competition of their lives.”

From Belo Horizonte, Team GB will head for the Athletes’ Village in Rio which, despite the Games beginning on August 5, had a number of buildings still requiring safety checks earlier this week, according to the organising committee.

A spokesman for Team GB said the accommodation was “fantastic and we’re just going to crack on with it”.