THE Olympic flag is flying in Wrexham to mark the handing over of the Olympic Games 2012 to London.
The flag was raised at the same time as the Olympic flag was handed over to the London mayor Boris Johnson by the mayor of Beijing at the closing ceremony of the 2008 competition.
Until recently Wrexham’s only Olympic gold medal winner, Ken Matthews, was also present to witness the raising of the flag.
Ken won his 20km race walk gold in 1964 in the Tokyo games.
Following rower Tom James spectacular gold medal win in the men’s coxless four he now joins Ken as Wrexham’s finest-ever sporting heroes.
The mayor of Wrexham, David Griffiths, has passed on his congratulations to Tom James on his success.
The mayor said he would be inviting Tom to the Guildhall to personally thank him on behalf of the residents of Wrexham for his tremendous achievement. No dates have yet been finalised.
Tom arrived back at heathrow Airport on Sunday on board a British Airways aircraft with a special gold nose cone.
Former mayor Joan Lowe, who raised the flag, said: “It has been a pleasure to meet Ken and to raise the flag in recognition of the official handover of the 2012 Olympic Games to London. Having just enjoyed the amazing Beijing games and following the successes of our Team GB, in particular the achievement of Wrexham’s Tom James, I know young sports people across the UK and in Wrexham will now aspire to great things in 2012.”
Wrexham will play its part in the Games as it will be welcoming Olympian and Paralympians to the 2012 Games following the announcement that sporting venues in the area have been included in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide.
Glyndwr University, Queensway Stadium and Wrexham FC have all been included in the Olympic Guide and Glyndwr, Queensway and the North Wales Regional Tennis Centre are included in the Paralympian Guide.
