Don’t be scared to pursue all your dreams!

Olympic badminton medalist Marcus Ellis visits his old school Colne Valley High. Below, from left: With students Emma Ellis, Hannah Armitage, Lewis Williams and Jack Keith, in action with Chris Langridge in Rio and (right) with favourite PE teacher Stephen Mowbray as 13th seed out of 16 pairs, went on to describe his experience at the games.

“Obviously loads of people have asked me what it was like to win a bronze medal out there (in Rio),” he said.

“It’s really, really difficult to put it into words just other than complete relief really that we had finally done it, and all that hard work we’d put in over this last ten years that came down to those couple of weeks in Rio (had paid off).

“It’s very hard to explain but the experience in Rio as a whole – not just the badminton, but seeing all the other sports, being in that environment with all those unbelievable athletes – is certainly something that I will remember forever. It was really, really special.”

Ellis’ focus will now turn to domestic competitions before the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast in Australia.

On the Commonwealth Games, Ellis said: “Obviously that’s still a couple of years away but it’ll be here before we know it.

“We just need to focus on playing well in the next few tournaments that are coming up in the New Year and try and get some momentum going forward.

“But for sure that’s my next aim to try and go there and get some medals.”