AN OKEHAMPTON councillor's petition to the Prime Minister to try to boost Britain's chances of more Olympic medals in the future has been approved. The petition by Cllr Hyder Ali Pirwany asking the Prime Minister to establish a sports academy to train the country's talented youth to excel in world sports is now available on the No 10 Downing Street website for anyone to sign. Cllr Pirwany said he had done this for all the talented youngsters out there. 'There are far better facilities and stadiums abroad and many of our famous athletes like Paula Radcliffe and Kelly Holmes have to go abroad to train,' he said. 'The idea of a national multi sports academy has always been there but it has never been petitioned at Downing Street. The 2012 Olympics are a long way off, we need a sports academy now for our home grown talent to train for Olympic medals and world championships.' The petition will be on the website until April 2008 and needs at least 100 signatures to get a response from the Prime Minister. Cllr Pirwany is urging people to add their names to his campaign. The website is http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/">http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ SportsAcademy/
