A 73-year-old man from Penzance says he will never forget the day he carried the Olympic Torch.
Helston-born tennis ace Keith Songhurst, who moved to Penzance 30 years ago and has been head coach at Penzance Tennis Club ever since, was chosen to carry the torch because of his long standing commitment to the sport in Cornwall.
In that time he has coached some of the region’s finest talent, but it’s his infectious enthusiasm for the game that has rubbed off on hundreds of players who simply play for fun, which has made him a local hero.
Simon Pender, a former tennis pupil of Keith and now an LTA Talent & Performance Co-ordinator for Cornwall said: “He’s responsible for hundreds, possibly thousands, of kids wanting to play tennis. I know that I would never have played tennis if it wasn’t for him.”
Talking about the day Keith said: “It’s hard to describe what it was like carrying the torch for those 300 metres, but one thing I can say is I’ll never forget it,”
“I was running for all of the tennis clubs in Cornwall and want to thank everybody, including the Lawn Tennis Association, for this opportunity. I’ve made so many friends in the sport and wouldn’t have ever carried the torch if it wasn’t for tennis.”
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