10 months ago

The medallion, one of 12 released to commemorate some of Britain’s greatest Olympians and Paralympians, depicts Ben’s winning moment from Beijing 2008, where he won a gold medal in the Finn class.

The collection includes: Sir Steve Redgrave CBE, Sebastian Coe KBE, Dame Kelly Holmes MBE (mil), Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE, Daley Thompson CBE, Denise Lewis OBE, James Cracknell OBE, Sir Chris Hoy MBE, Rebecca Adlington OBE, Ben Ainslie CBE, Baroness Ben Ainslie DBE and Lee Pearson CBE.

The medallions, which showcase 12 Great British Olympic and Paralympic winning moments from past Games, can be purchased for £2 each from BP’s forecourts across the country. Also available from BP forecourts are limited edition medallion collection folders which can be kept as a keepsake for years to come.

Ben comments: “I feel really honoured to have my very own medallion that captures such an iconic moment of my career. By going out and collecting the medallions you can support our athletes competing at the London 2012 Games and beyond.

“Let’s hope that when future generations look at their Legends medallion collection they will have another set of winning moments to relive from this summer’s Games.”Ben Ainslie

Craig Hunter, Chef de Mission of ParalympicsGB, says: “Collecting the medallions is a fantastic way for the public to get behind our athletes and be part of British sporting history this summer. Sales of the Collection will raise valuable funds for Team GB and ParalympicsGB, supporting the athletes competing in London and beyond.”

Andy Hunt, Chef de Mission Team GB London 2012 commented: “We are hugely proud of our Paralympic and Olympic heritage and what better way to celebrate our legends than to produce a medallion collection to honour them.  We hope that everyone will seize this opportunity to start collecting the medallions and in doing so show their support for British athletes at London 2012 and beyond.”

All profits from the sale of the Our Greatest Team Legends Collection will directly support ParalympicsGB and Team GB to help aspiring athletes deliver their best performance at London 2012 and beyond.

A new medallion is released each Wednesday to build the complete Our Greatest Team Legends Collection – one of only two official pieces of memorabilia created to support Team GB and ParalympicsGB.  Every collector can play their part in supporting Our Greatest Team; for children, the collection will provide an education on our greatest Olympic and Paralympic legends and for adults a bit of nostalgia revisiting the great moments in Games history.  

The next medallion to be released will be Baroness Ben Ainslie DBE in a week’s time, on July 18, 2012, with Lee Pearson CBE following on July 25.

For more information about the Our Greatest Team Legends Collection and how you can start collecting the limited edition medallions, visit www.bp.com/medallions.