David Hemery shows Linton Village College pupils his Olympic gold medal.

Olympic gold medallist David Hemery has been inspiring Cambridgeshire schoolchildren to be ‘the best they can be’.

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Whether it is in the field of sport, music, science or literature, Dr Hemery – who clinched a world record when he won the 400 metre hurdles at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico – encouraged youngsters at Linton Village College to focus on their goals.

Dr Hemery launched the 21st Century Legacy programme in the build-up to the London 2012 Games to inspire young people with its ‘Be the Best You Can Be’ programme designed to help them achieve their potential.

The 67-year-old held an assembly for Year 7 at Linton Village College and presented each student with a special medal to remind them of the goals they set themselves.

Dr Hemery said his teachers at school would never have predicted he would win two Olympic medals, write four books and be awarded four degrees - he measured just 5’3” aged 14 and wasn’t able to read until he was 10 because of dyslexia.

“There is so much untapped potential in everyone,” he said. “You have to find something you are passionate about and keep working on it. The only person holding you back is you.”

Recalling his own experience, Dr Hemery told the youngsters prior to the 1968 Olympics he pictured winning the race in every single weather condition and circumstance - even including the eventuality of a bomb scare disrupting the 
athletes’ focus.

“You have to go there in your imagination,” he said. “It’s called visualisation.”

Dr Hemery set a new world record of 48.07 seconds for the 400 metre hurdles.

But between the 1968 Olympics and the 1972 Games in Munich, his confidence was knocked when he heard the peak age for a sprinter was 24 and at the Munich Games he was approaching 28.

And, despite undergoing a mammoth amount of training, he agonised after seeing images in his head of losing the race.

On the day he said he could not feel the adrenaline flowing and missed out on the silver by 100th of a second – something he still beats himself up for 40 years later.

“The message is ensure your goals and visualisations are positive,” he said. “There’s a spark of greatness in everyone.”

Linton Village College pupil Ivor Crooks, 11, said he was inspired by Dr Hemery’s talk and, as a member of a triathlon club, had chosen to challenge himself at cycling.

“I was told I could do something quite good in cycling and so I set myself some personal goals and targets,” he said.

Headteacher Caroline Derbyshire remembers Dr Hemery winning the popular 1970s show Superstars - which saw sportsmen and women competing in sports which were not their profession - three times.

“I was so excited to hear he was coming today as I remember him from my childhood and he was a real superstar to me.” she said.