about a year ago

The medallion, one of 12 released to commemorate some of Britain’s greatest Olympians and Paralympians, depicts Kelly’s winning moment from Athens in 2004 when she won gold in the 800m, the same Olympic Games in which she also claimed the gold in the 1500m.

The collection includes: Olympians 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, and Paralympians Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson 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.

Dame Kelly commented: “I feel really honoured to have my very own medallion in this unique collection of Olympic legends and it captures such an iconic moment of my athletics career that I will never forget.

“By collecting the medallions you will be supporting our athletes competing at the London 2012 Games and beyond, as the money raised goes to funding future British teams. It will be a wonderful set of British Olympic memorabilia to pass on to future generations for years to come.”

Andy Hunt, Chef de Mission Team GB London 2012 commented: “We are hugely proud of our Olympic and Paralympic 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.”

“Collecting the medallions is a fantastic way for the public to get behind our athletes and be part of British sporting history this summer." Craig Hunter

Craig Hunter, Chef de Mission of ParalympicsGB, said: "Sales of the Collection will raise valuable funds for ParalympicsGB and Team GB, supporting the athletes competing in London and beyond.”

All profits from the sale of the Our Greatest Team Legends Collection will directly support Team GB and ParalympicsGB 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 Sir Matthew Pinsent in a week’s time, on 30th May 2012 with Daley Thompson CBE following on 6th June.

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.