Friday 6 July – Walking buses link with Olympic torch relay

Free parking at the University of Essex and walking buses proved popular choices for members of the public and staff heading for Colchester town centre to see the Olympic Torch make its way through Britain’s oldest recorded town.

Visitors included a group from Stowmarket High School cheering on their Abi Whitefield who was carrying the torch. University of Essex student Kat Parnell was a torchbearer in Ipswich yesterday, having been nominated by her sister for her work as a football coach.

Tuesday 3 July – Dom King wins place at London 2012

Dom King, Student Activities and Development Manager at the University of Essex Students’ Union, underwent an intensive fitness test at the  Human Performance Unit just before he set off with Team GB for high altitude training in Font Romeu.

Dom was selected for Team GB after achieving the Olympic ‘B’ standard for the 50 kilometres walk with a personal best of 4:06:34, a time only achieved by seven other British men.

His date with destiny is on Saturday 11 August when the Olympic 50 kilometre race walk will be held on a two kilometre circuit  set up in The Mall, right outside Buckingham Palace.

All of Team GB’s endurance athletes have to measure their current level of fitness, oxygen uptake, blood and heart rate before heading to the training camp and will be measured again on their return.

Human Performance Unit Manager Dave Parry at the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science in the School of Biological Sciences said: “He has been the top ranked British race walker in 2012, and selection for the Olympics is his just reward for the huge amount of hard training and preparation that he’s put in for such a gruelling event.

“The Human Performance Unit’s small contribution to his Olympic preparation has been to provide sports science testing, which gives an insight into where the strengths and weaknesses are in Dom’s fitness.

“We’ll repeat the testing when Dom returns from his pre-games training camp, just before the Games begin, and hopefully we’ll see that he has made some last minute improvements that can help him to an even higher place finish on August 11.”

See the Team GB announcement

Thursday 28 June – Mini Games at University of Essex Sports Centre

Students taking part in the Mini Games at the University of Essex

Budding athletes from three local primary schools tried their hand at five Olympic sports during a special Mini Games event at the University of Essex.

Organised by the University of Essex Students’ Union’s Student Activities and Development Manager Dom King with the support of the Students’ Union, current and incoming sabbatical officers, sports centre staff and student volunteers, the event was also supported by the local School Sport Partnership with Health and Competition Coordinator Dan King, Dom’s brother, helping to run activities.

Nearly 200 pupils from Years 5 and 6 from Broomgrove Junior School, Old Heath Community Primary School and Montgomery Junior School enjoyed an action-packed day. The event gave the youngsters a taste of athletics, hockey, tennis, handball and football which will all feature at London 2012.

Community volunteering manager Keith Rowlands said: “We wanted to do something to mark the Olympics coming to London this year and also show the school children our Campus and the excellent sports facilities we have here. The Students’ Union is also committed to reaching out to the community and working with young people to raise aspirations and introduce them to university life."

Friday 8 June – Olympic Torch Relay details announced

Preparations are well underway for the Olympic Torch’s arrival in Essex on Friday 6 July and the University of Essex is playing its part.

Visitors travelling into Colchester to see the Torch Relay can enjoy free parking at the University and walking buses will leave promptly at 6.15am, 6.30am and 6.45am from the Valley Road bus stops to head to East Hill the nearest point on the Torch Relay route.

The walk takes about 30 minutes and the Torch is due in the town at 7.28am departing at 8.16am. If you wish to reserve spaces on the walking buses please email travel@essex.ac.uk.

On return from the Torch Relay members of the public are invited to visit the University's Art Exchange which is hosting an Olympic themed Mexico '68 exhibition.

Catering outlets will be open on Campus and MUSA cafe restaurant at firstsite will also be offering an Olympic breakfast on this special day from 7.30am. Please visit the Colchester Borough Council "Activities on the Day" page or the Colchester Borough Council Olympic Torch Relay Advice page. for more details.

Thursday 31 May – Discover our Olympic experts

Olympic expertise can now be accessed through a special directory created by the University of Essex. From elite human performance to security issues the University has collated a list of specialists available on Campus who can help with any media queries from now until the end of the Paralympics and beyond. Please visit www.essex.ac.uk/experts/ and follow the link through to list all experts, selecting Olympics.

Monday 23 April – Week of Olympics inspired events

Universities Week

The University of Essex is limbering up for the Olympic-themed nationwide Universities Week on Monday, 30 April.

This is the third annual Universities Week campaign which aims to increase public awareness of the wide and varied role of the UK's universities. This year's campaign will look at the contribution that universities make to the Olympic movement, the sports industry and society as a whole.

Aspiring Paralympian and University of Essex student Scott Moorhouse is among a selection of ambassadors, including Dame Kelly Holmes and sports presenter John Inverdale, on a video helping to highlight how universities benefit everyone.

Javelin-thrower Scott also features alongside University of Essex racewalker Dominic King, currently bidding for his place on Team GB, in an action-packed calendar of sport-themed activities at the Colchester Campus during the week.

From Monday to Friday there will be a series of talks and sports events every lunchtime, covering everything from boxing and wheelchair basketball to the history of Olympic art and drugs in sport.

Director of Sport David Williams said: "The University has been involved in the build up to London 2012 for several years and this week gives us a chance to showcase some of the expertise and talent we have here.

"We hope the activities will capture people's interest and inspire them to become more involved as the Games approach."

All the events, which are open to the public, are betwen 1-2pm with the sports events at the University's Sports Centre and the talks in the Lecture Theatre Block.

Monday 30 April: Frisbee golf challenge and talk from Dr Valerie Gladwell from the School of Biological Sciences on 'Five things to make you a successful athlete'.

Tuesday 1 May: Wheelchair basketball display and have a go and Professor Todd Landman from the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution on 'Olympic Dream Maps'.

Wednesday 2 May: Colchester's Coach of the Year Gordon Charlesworth from the University's Amateur Boxing Club will be showing how to dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee while Dr Matthew Taylor from the School of Biological Sciences will be asking 'What makes Bolt run so fast?'.

Thursday 3 May: Top race-walker and aspiring Olympian Dominic King will be in action and Dr Pete Fussey from the Department of Sociology will report on security and the Olympics.

Friday 4 May: Paralympian javelin thrower and University student Scott Moorhouse will be demonstrating his skills and Jess Kenny looks at art and the Olympics in the build-up to the University's Art Exchange exhibition on the Olympic design for Mexico '68.

22 March 2012 – Inter-schools mountain biking

Eighty secondary school children will descend on the University of Essex Colchester campus on Tuesday 27 March to compete in inter-school mountain bike races organised by Essex County Council as part of their Olympic legacy plans.

The children will be racing around a cross-country track about a mile long with prizes for the winning school and individuals. The aim is to develop interest in this growing sport and introduce cyclists to the many local clubs and groups in the Eastern region.

Monday 27 February – Biological Sciences senior lecturer helps create In the Zone

Dr Valerie Gladwell, Senior Lecturer in Physiology in the Department of Biological Sciences has been advising the Wellcome Trust on ‘In the Zone’ a £5 million project, inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will see every school in the UK receiving a free experiment kit to learn how bodies work during exercise, movement and rest.

‘In the Zone’ was launched by Sir Steve Redgrave, who said: “I didn’t have much interest in science at school, but it became really important to me as I got more serious about sport. I owe much of my Olympic success to a scientific understanding of my body.”

Dr Gladwell advised on the experiments for secondary school children. She features in the ‘I’ve got power’ zone for 16 to 18 year-olds, which explores how the body is powered during exercise. She also helped to create the ‘Live Data Zone’ where pupils will go online to enter their data, so pupils and scientists can use it to explore real research questions.

Monday 6 February – Sport Makers conference

The first Sport Makers conference at the University of Essex was a great success with more than 50 keen people attending.

The event was arranged for people interested in becoming involved in local sport, either helping at a club that already exists or setting up their own group.

Dominic King, Student Activities and Development Manager at the University’s Students’ Union, said:” It was very encouraging to see so many people wanting to help others achieve their sporting goals. Hopefully it is just the start of a great Olympic year.”

Other similar events are being held around the county. Log onto www.sportsmakers.co.uk for more details.

Friday 27 January – Sport Makers Conference

As London 2012 approaches, there’s a fantastic opportunity at the University of Essex to be part of the Olympic legacy.

The University is hosting a Sport Makers Conference on Thursday, 2 February as part of a nationwide project to encourage people to become more involved in sports locally, from setting up an office football team to a cycling group.

The Conference is free and aimed at anyone who is interested in sport. Participants will learn more about being a Sport Maker from local and national experts, meet up with like-minded people, receive some free sports kit and food and be put in a draw for some free London 2012 Olympic tickets.

To register people need to visit Sport Makers and sign up to the University event.

Friday 27 January – Dom King training update

The University’s own Olympic hopeful, racewalker Dominic King, is training hard for the qualifying events.

Together with his twin brother and fellow racewalker, Daniel, he has just spent ten days training in the Costa Brava region of Spain, away from the cold, wet, windy conditions at home.

Dominic, who was UK No 1 for 50km in 2011 with his brother No 2 , said: “I have some key races coming up which hopefully I can use to qualify for the Olympics. There are only certain races that qualify and all of these are outside the UK. I am competing in the Spanish 50km Championships on 4 March and potentially have another 50km lined up for Slovakia on 24 March.”

"The World Race Walking Cup, which is being held in Saransk, Russia, is on the weekend of 12-13 May and hopefully I will be selected to represent GBR to try to achieve the Olympic standard," added Dominic who is Student Activities and Development Manager at the University’s Students’ Union.

The twins have until July 2 to get the Olympic “B” qualifying time of four hours and nine minutes and training has been going well.