25 sportspeople honoured with updated artworks at K2 Crawley

They have all been held up against a set criteria: outstanding contribution to their sport, namely coaches achieving great success at elite level or sportspeople creating iconic moments. The 25 are:

• Steve Arneil – karate
• Jane Blackburn – archery, bowls and table tennis
• Nick Buckfield – pole vault
• Paulo Da Silva – Muay Thai
• Sharron Davies MBE – swimming
• Katie-George Dunlevy – cycling
• Natalie Greenhough – judo
• Jodie Grinham – archery
• Sally Gunnell OBE – athletics
• Marvin Hinton – football
• Tim Hutchings – athletics
• Ben Jesson – shooting
• Mick Jones – hammer
• Sascha Kindred CBE – swimming
• Jade Lally – discus
• Mick Leigh – judo
• Jean Lintern – javelin
• Tom Lintern – javelin
• Alan Minter – boxing
• Lara Partridge – water polo
• David Pickthall – karate
• Richard Slaney – discus and shot put
• Gareth Southgate OBE – football
• Daley Thompson CBE – decathlon
• Zara Williams – lifesaving

All-new artwork has been created so all 25 portraits have been updated.

A launch event was held on Friday where Councillor Chris Mullins, Cabinet member for Leisure and Wellbeing, unveiled the feature wall with the help of five of the sportspeople depicted on it – Jane Blackburn, Nick Buckfield, Jodie Grinham, Tim Hutchings and David Pickthall.Councillor Chris Mullins said: “Crawley has a rich sporting history and this feature wall is a great way of highlighting the achievements of our sportspeople. We hope this “wall of fame” will inspire the next generation to give sport a try and inform people of the successes that have come out of Crawley.

“And who knows – maybe they could be on a future version of the wall!”

One of the new additions to the wall, Marvin Hinton, was unable to attend the event but his son, Darren, said: “As a family we really do appreciate that Crawley Borough Council and K2 Crawley have recognised dad’s sporting achievements in professional football by adding him to the display.

“He has lived here for more than 60 years and at the earliest opportunity one of us will take him to see it in person. I know he will be thrilled to know that his grandchildren, who often use the leisure centre, will be proud seeing their grandad on the display, like we all are.”