Four months after the Olympic opening ceremony and Britain has never looked back on such a successful fortnight. And with 14 million people tuning in to the BBC Sports Personality of the year awards, Britain’s unsung heroes now have their spotlight.
The Olympics has seen a staggering increase in the amount of people taking part in sport which would normally be last on their mind. Generally people would prefer to join Football, Rugby or Cricket clubs, but many different sports have seen an increase in participation.
According to the Ely Standard, East Cambridgeshire has seen a 2.2 percent increase in Sport participation since 2011.
The Governing Body of British Cycling have reported a 25 percent increase in Welsh members of ‘British Cycling’ between August 2011 and August 2012.
The top 5 sports where councils have seen an increase in users are: Swimming (36% of councils), Gym (26%), Athletics (17%), Beach Volleyball (13%) and Gymnastics (12%).
The most interesting sport to go up in popularity is Beach Volleyball. It was deemed to be one of the most popular sports in London 2012, with the Horse Guard Parade seeing it stands being full of tourists or Brits getting involved in the action.
So how has the Olympics affected Britain? The increase in sport is a positive sign, especially as modern teenagers have been nicknamed the ‘Lazy Generation’ with social media and online gaming taking over peoples lives.
The effect has not just been felt among teenagers however, with many working men lacking exercise due to time taken from family and work. So hopefully over the next few years we will see an increase in sport from all ages, to try and avoid obesity taking its toll over Britain, and keep every Briton healthy and active.