WATCH Mountain biker's spectacular stunts as sporting heroes visit Portsmouth school

Grant Fielder in action, airborne above headteacher Mrs Bush during his visit to Langstone Junior School Portsmouth with Olympic swimmer Katy Sexton
Picture: Chris Moorhouse — Grant Fielder in action, airborne above headteacher Mrs Bush during his visit to Langstone Junior School Portsmouth with Olympic swimmer Katy Sexton Picture: Chris Moorhouse

Olympic swimmer Katy Sexton and world champion mountain biker Grant Fielder visited Langstone Junior School in Portsmouth yesterday – treating the pupils to a day of exercise and activities to get them in a sporty mood for summer.

Students took part in a number of sponsored exercise events to raise money for new school equipment – under the watchful eye of double Olympian Katy Sexton.

She said: ‘The students have been running around, doing push-ups, star jumps and so on.

‘We had some children who were helping others with the exercises which was great for boosting their leadership skills.

‘It’s great to get the children active when it’s such nice weather.’

After spending the morning running around, the pupils gathered in the playground for a display by Grant Fielder, who stunned the youngsters with a number of flips and tricks.

He then spoke to the children about the importance of staying healthy from a young age.

He said: ‘When I first got into mountain biking I was 14 years old.

‘I was dedicated to improving but I wanted to keep it fun. Going out on my bike was fun so I want children to think about what they enjoy and how they can make it fun to stay healthy.

‘Getting into healthy habits from a young age is so important.

‘I hope the school has raised lots of money because schools are a great platform for young people to discover their passions and become successful in the future.’

For his final stunt, Grant shocked both staff and teachers as he backflipped his bike over the top of the school’s headteacher, Jane Bush.

She said: ‘I’ve been really inspired by today.

‘The children have been fantastic and really engaged with everything that’s been going on.

‘They all really enjoyed the exercises and were absolutely thrilled by Grant’s display.

‘I must say, having him ride his bike over the top of my head was a weird sensation – but it just goes to show what weird and incredible things they can do by getting involved with sport.’