This is not just any torch bearer...

This is my best friend Margaret, high fiving 12 yr old Robert Ewins as she hands over the Olympic Flame to him in Wilton, Wiltshire at 8.30 this morning.

' I ' is for Inspirational. July Challenge

This is my little fat friend, whom I met on my first day at secondary school.

This lady and I have been friends ever since.

Margaret was enthusiastic, but in no way talented at sport when at school, and without doubt she had what was known then as 'Puppy fat.' At 15 she suffered with life threatening meningitis which left her with epilepsy and memory problems. She was off school for many months yet went on to train as a dentist and later became an orthodontist.

It was when she was a student that she decided she wanted to compete in the Olympic Games and she thought shooting would be the easiest sport for a short fat person to compete in.

How wrong was she!!

The shooting practice was hard enough, but the physical training was incredibly gruelling. For to shoot well, you have to have a very low resting heart rate, so that you can fire between heat beats, and for that you have to be incredibly fit. She ran, she swam, she worked out in the gym for hours and hours every week for years. She turned from a chubby friend into a super slim athlete and her dream came true when she competed in the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

I left home at 5 a.m. this morning to make sure I was in Wilton in plenty of time to cheer as she ran past. To see her making a 'high five' with this young lad and to see the huge grin on his face was the icing on the cake!!

Oh no! Hang on a moment!!

The icing was on the torch shaped cake back in her village, where we congregated afterwards at the tea rooms.

In true Margaret fashion, she charged people to hold the torch and have their photos taken with her, with all proceeds going to charity.

Here is the written nomination that gave Margaret the honour of being an Olympic Torchbearer today.

I know of no-one more worthy of having the honour of carrying the Olympic flame, she is a truly inspiring example of the Olympic ideal. Generous with her time and commitment, she is actively putting something back into her Olympic sport. Margaret is an Olympian who came 11th in target pistol shooting at the 1988 Seoul Games. She also represented England at the 1994 Commonwealth games where she won a silver medal. She assists me in coaching my three national squads; British Shooting, Team England & S.E.R.P.S. She does this on a purely voluntary basis without receiving funding of any kind. Her unwaning enthusiasm, communications skills, experience and depth of technical knowledge are truly motivating and inspirational for the female shooters, of all ages, who are involved in these elite squads. She is in constant contact with them not only at national training weekends but also via e-mail and telephone.

Margaret, you are my ' I ' for Inspirational.