Vatican City, Oct 20, 2013 / 14:42 pm
At a Vatican athletic event promoting the connection between faith and sports, British Olympic gold medalist runner Jason Gardener credited Catholic nuns for encouraging him to succeed.
He recounted his first involvement in sports at age six at St. John's Catholic Primary School in Bath. There, he said, "I was given the opportunity to participate in sports days, and I remember crossing the (finish) line – trying my best and doing really well."
"That coincided with the Olympic Games in 1984 and I thought, 'wow, I want to be like that.' And my nuns (from my school) came to see me and brought some medals and said, 'you work really hard, and be a good boy, you may get some of these when you're older'," he said Oct. 20.
Gardener had run a 100-meter track that had been set up along the street leading to St. Peter's Square on Sunday morning.