PUPILS at Holy Family Catholic Primary School were put through their paces by a two-time Paralympic medallist on Tuesday.

Ben Rushgrove, who has cerebral palsy, runs in the T36 classification and secured 100m silver at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, before grabbing 200m bronze in London four years later.

The 27-year-old, who lives and trains in Bath, was visiting the Marlowe Avenue school as part of his work with Sport for Schools, which takes various stars into education provisions across the country.

In his morning session with the 300-plus pupils, Ben led fitness circuits, consisting of press-ups, leg drives and star jumps, before answering questions in an assembly.

“The children loved it,” said Catherine Bruce, the school’s head of sport. They were really enthusiastic about it and showed some real interest in his assembly with questions about how he had become a Paralympian.

“They felt very privileged and very special to have the chance to hold the medals.”

Ben said he was using his school visits to connect with the youngsters and break down any perceived barriers to elite sport.

“It was good fun. I do quite like these events. They always go swimmingly,” he said.

“Each school has its own unique standpoint on things. It’s part of my job to figure out how to pick the activities suitable to that hall and that set of kids.

“The benefits can be lots of things. For some it’s just getting a little bit of exercise in the morning to start their day.

“Some of them will sit in assembly and think this is cool, I want to do this more.

“Some kids come up at the end and say they are inspired by this.

“I’m trying to make it more like something that anybody can get involved in and anybody can do.

“I’m not trying to inspire all the kids to become sprinters or athletes because I know that’s not possible.

“Of all the children I see across the country, only one or two might have the talent to run internationally.

“I want to inspire them to be the best they can be.”