Walking tall: the 1948 Games veteran who has inspired a movie

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12 April 2012

An Olympic veteran who introduced the splits to international gymnastics at the 1948 London Games will walk the red carpet next week at the BFI London Film Festival.

George Weedon, now 91, is the subject of a short film, Walk Tall, by Leytonstone animator Kate Sullivan which is having its premiere.

The self-taught athlete, born and raised in Richmond, competed at the "austerity" Games despite early health problems including a chipped bone in his back, tuberculosis and losing a kidney. Working as a builder, he could not always afford the gym so practised on DIY equipment made from curtain rails and flower pots in his back garden.

Ms Sullivan, 32, who has worked on TV shows such as Dead Ringers and for comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, decided to tell his inspirational story after meeting him at an East End event two years ago. She arrived to find him spinning on his back on the floor in a demonstration of the gymnastic and breakdancing skill of "windmilling".

She said: "He is incredibly funny and self-effacing and it is incredible what this man achieved with so little."

Mr Weedon, a widower, spent decades as a coach after competing. he learned the splits when studying ballet but provoked uproar from sport's chiefs when he introduced it into a domestic gymnastic competition. They tried to ban the "ladies' movement".

In 1948, he came 28th out of 140 contenders and went on to compete again in Helsinki four years later. He and Ms Sullivan have been nominated as potential 2012 torch-bearers.

On the back of the film, Games organisers have arranged two gymnastics tickets for the man who can recall the disorganisation last time London was host. "I was over the top when chosen," he said. "But it was a right shambles."

The film-maker and her subject are in talks to work together on another film or on a book to show children and elderly people how to keep fit cheaply using simple, everyday objects.

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