'Teesside Tornado' medal lands to inspire youngsters

'Teesside Tornado' Richard Kilty’s Olympic bronze medal has gone on display at his hometown airport.

The Middlesbrough-born Olympic sprinter was part of the medal-winning 4x100-metre TeamGB relay line-up, which won bronze at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

And now Richard, from Stockton-on-Tees, who announced his intention to retire after the Paris games, has teamed up with Teesside International Airport to allow the public to share in his success with a special display in its departures area.

For more than a decade, the 35-year-old was one of the few athletes to enjoy success in indoor and outdoor sprint events.

His haul includes gold, silver and bronze medals from world and European championships in 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres.

He also won world and European 60-metre titles and Commonwealth Games gold and silver.

Richard, who isn’t hanging up his spikes just yet, said he hopes the display will inspire local youngsters.

The Stockton sprinter says his ambition in retirement is to bring on the next generation of athletes from the North East, to help them compete at future games and competitions.

He said: “Many of my family and friends have been with me and helped me through my career, so it's great to be able to share what it means to more people close to home.

“I hope the medal can play a role in inspiring our own next generation of athletes."

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen added: “We could not be more proud of Richard for bringing a medal back to Teesside.

"He’s had such an illustrious career on the track, and it’s a great honour for us to have his medal at our airport.”

The airport, near Darlington, was an RAF airfield during the Second World War and began commercial operations as Teesside Airport in the mid-1960s under local authority control, providing services to local businesses and leisure passengers.

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