Sprinter Jason Gardener was at Monkton Stadium in Jarrow yesterday, for the first Bill Wilson Memorial Shield: Primary School Olympics.

The 33-year-old was on hand as more than 320 pupils from 18 primary schools took part to celebrate the life of the borough teacher, who was a great supporter of school sport.

Mr Wilson died in 2008 and the event was organised by South Tyneside School Sport Partnership in his honour.

David Newton, development manager for the partnership, said: "This is a great honour for South Tyneside and a fitting tribute to an inspirational local man.

"This prestigious event will motivate the young people to strive for greatness.

"Meeting an Olympian like Jason Gardener who has achieved fantastic honours, and is extremely supportive of grassroots sports, can only spur them on to try their very best.

"Hopefully, this will transfer to other aspects of their life and create positive lifestyle choices."

The event was held to mark the countdown to London 2012 as part of Lloyds TSB's National School Sport Week.

Gardener, who picked up an Olympic relay 4x100m gold in 2004, and was at the event as Youth Sport Trust school ambassador, said: "It's a great event, and it's really cool seeing everyone competing.

"It's massively important to get young people involved in sport from as young as possible, for so many different reasons.

"It's about children having healthy lifestyle choices, to foster five hours of PE every week, tackling obesity, which has been in the media lately, and, for me, school age is when people realise they have a talent by competing against other schools.

"The sporting journey for many Olympians and Paralympians begins at school.

"It's a crucial period for a young athlete's development and I hope that by bringing London 2012 into classrooms, Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week will inspire our next generation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes."

Pupils Daniel Gray, 10, and Anja Chow, 11, both from Ashley Primary School, South Shields, enjoyed taking part in a full day of track and field.

Daniel said: "I ran in the 300m and won the first heat. I've never done any track and field like this before and it was great to compete against other children the same age as me."

Anja added: "I took part in the long jump and other track events, including running through some steps. It was great fun."

Those children not taking part in yesterday's track and field events packed the stands in Dene Terrace as spectators.

Mr Wilson's sister Kath Campbell, who now lives in York, also attended the event as guest of honour.

Every school involved paraded around the track displaying their banners and Olympic-inspired pledges.

Certificates and T-shirts were awarded to all participants while the winners took home medals and trophies.

* You can leave your memories of and tributes to Bill Wilson at the Gazette book of condolences here.