A former Olympic skater has been in Bolton to speak about the importance of safeguarding in sport.

Former European champion, World Cup medallist and double Olympian Charlotte Gilmartin, 32, got her skates on to get down to the Age UK Bolton Ageing Well Centre in Farnworth.

She talked about safeguarding in sport, a topic that the short track speed skater turned firefighter is very passionate about.

The visit and talk was part of a health and wellbeing event organised by Age UK Bolton and included a talk about bio-mechanics and involvement from Bolton Council’s "Let’s Keep Bolton Moving" campaign.

Charlotte, from Redditch, talked candidly about her career, the triumphs and the lowest points, the pressures of being an elite athlete and the importance of safeguarding at all levels of sport.

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She said: “I’m definitely passionate about giving back because of what I’ve been through personally and seeing what my teammates have been through.

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“You can be in quite a dark hole if you don’t have the right support around you.”

“I don’t want to put people off sport. I think people can get so much from it, from a community, from travel from being able to get the adrenaline, the endorphins and everything else.”

Tina Thordal from Tina Training coordinates the talks, working with Sport England and the Ann Craft Trust.

An interview was broadcast on Bolton FM on Tuesday.