There are a host of Olympic-themed activities planned for British Universities Week starting on Monday 30 April.

All the events are between 1 and 2pm with the sports events at the University’s Sports Centre and the talks in LTB 5.

The events are open to the public, staff and students and are designed to show the many sports people can enjoy at the University, the outstanding sports people who might be taking part in the London Games and the academics working on Olympic-related issues.

This Friday will see Paralympian hopeful Scott Moorhouse talking about his preparations for London 2012 including his training regime for the javelin. Visitors also might get a chance to try out the sport.

The full programme of events includes:

• Monday 30 April: Activity - Frisbee golf challenge. Talk - Dr Valerie Gladwell from the School of Biological Sciences on ‘Five things to make you a successful athlete’.
• Tuesday 1 May: Activity - Wheelchair basketball display. Talk - Professor Todd Landman from the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution on ‘Olympic Dream Maps’.
• Wednesday 2 May: Activity - Colchester’s Coach of the Year Gordon Charlesworth from the University’s Amateur Boxing Club will be showing how to dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Talk - Dr Matthew Taylor and Professor Chris Cooper from the School of Biological Sciences will be asking ‘What makes Bolt run so fast?’
• Thursday 3 May: Activity - Top race-walker and aspiring Olympian Dom King will be in action. Talk - Dr Pete Fussey from the Department of Sociology report on security and the Olympics.
• Friday 4 May: Activity - Paralympian javelin thrower and University student Scott Moorhouse will demonstrating his skills.Talk - Jess Kenny looks at art and the Olympics in the build-up to the gallery’s exhibition on Mexico ’68.

The University will be represented among the Olympic torchbearers by sports science undergraduate Kat Parnell from Ipswich and aspiring Paralympian Scott Moorhouse.

Kat, aged 21, will be carrying the torch on 5 July in her home county, having been nominated by her sister, Stephanie, because of her passion for sport. Scott, who is currently on warm-weather training with Team GB in Los Angeles, will be carrying the torch in Haringey on 25 July.

The torch reaches Colchester at 7.28am on Friday 6 July and will arrive in Southend at 10.52am.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Kat. “I read such inspirational stories about the torchbearers that I didn’t think I would get picked.”

As well as studying hard for the final year of her degree course, Kat works as a sports assistant at the University Sports Centre and, through the University’s unique work placement scheme, frontrunners, as an assistant sports scientist at the Human Performance Unit working with schoolchildren and elite athletes.

She also works as a football coach in her home town and plays in midfield for Ipswich Town Woman’s Football Club, having played for Colchester United in the Premier League Southern Division 2007-11.

Scott has deferred the final year of his studies to concentrate on preparing for the F42 category javelin. Currently ranked number two in the world, he was recently named as Colchester’s Male Sport
Personality of the Year.

After training in South Africa earlier this year, he has joined Team GB in America for further fitness preparation.