Legacy for Bolton golden boy Jason Kenny (From This Is Lancashire)

Legacy for Bolton golden boy Jason Kenny

7:02pm Wednesday 22nd August 2012 in News By Jessica Bell, Health reporter

BOLTON golden boy Jason Kenny is to have a new leisure complex named after him in his home town.

Cycling hero Jason added golds in the men's team sprint and the individual sprint at London 2012 to the gold and silver medal he won in Beijing.

Council bosses in Bolton have now announced plans to name the leisure facility at Bolton One, the town's £30.6 million leisure, health and research centre, after him.

A motion will go before the council on August 29, asking councillors to back naming it the Jason Kenny Centre in his honour. The motion also asks for support to name a local cycle trail after him.

The Bolton One centre contains a state-of-the-art fitness suite, a community gym, dance and workout studio along with a competition standard, eight-lane, 25-metre swimming pool.

Jason said: "As the saying goes 'home is where the heart is', so it's a real honour to have the leisure centre at the Bolton One complex named after me.

"I'm proud of being from Bolton, it is where I was born and bred, so to be recognised in this way by my home town is incredible."

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, added: "Jason's spectacular gold medals were proud and inspirational moments for everyone in Bolton.

"Bolton One houses our newest leisure centre, in the heart of the community. Jason is a great sporting ambassador, an inspiration for young people across the borough, and we think this is a good way to honour his achievements.

"We've marked 2012 as the year of sport and we want to build a strong Olympic legacy in his home town that will inspire generations to come.

"We hope that his triumph will inspire young people to get active, use sporting facilities and aim for success."

The motion will be considered at the August 29 meeting and, if passed, work will start on renaming the centre.