Edinburgh's Olympic legacy puts city's 2012 athletes in with a shot at glory

As the countdown begins in earnest to London 2012, local competitors will be heartened to hear that - statistically at least - they have a better chance at glory than almost anywhere else in the country.

New research has revealed that the area has produced amongst the highest concentration of Olympic medallists in the UK, being beaten only by Glamorgan in Wales and Berkshire.

Since 1908, the area has produced 14 gold, 11 silver and three bronze medals, giving a ratio of 4.9 medals per 100,000 population.

Sir Chris Hoy is responsible for bringing five of those medals to the Capital for his victories in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, believes Sir Chris is the perfect example of why athletes from the area perform so well.

He said Edinburgh's large proportion of independent schools and legacy of facilities built for the Commonwealth Games in 1970 have contributed to the medal successes.

Mr Cavanagh said: "One of the first things that comes to mind is the fact that Edinburgh has a much higher proportion of kids who attend private schools than probably anywhere else in the UK.

"Private schools certainly invest more money into sports facilities and with more money comes better facilities, more opportunities and a stronger likelihood for success.

"I also think there's a bit of a legacy from the facilities built in Edinburgh for the Commonwealth Games.

"Chris Hoy is an obvious example, and in fact he fits into both categories - he went to private school and lived in the only city in Scotland that had a velodrome.

"Would he have become a track cyclist if he hadn't grown up in Edinburgh?

"Meadowbank Stadium, the Royal Commonwealth Pool and the velodrome left a legacy.

"I remember thinking Meadowbank was so different from anything else in Scotland, it was way ahead of its time." He added: "With the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow coming up, it will be interesting to see if in 20/30 years time whether it will be the Glasgow and Lanarkshire areas producing the most medallists."

Sprinter Allan Wells, who won a gold and silver medal in 1980, said he was surprised the area had come third in the UK for producing the most medallists, but has a number of theories as to why that might be.

He said: "I think it's probably to do with the competitive edge in the area, the facilities and the coaches.

"We have a Commonwealth Games swimming pool, so that's maybe an area that we have to look at in respect of medals won.

"Edinburgh is probably quite a good area to be in, in respect of facilities. It's a surprising statistic though."

The research was carried out by Thomas Cook, the official short-break provider of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It researched all the Olympic medallists from Team GB since 1908.

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