PUPILS at St Augustine’s were bursting with pride after their gold medal winning world champion Danny Talbot popped in to his old college for an inspirational chat.

The 4x100m relay gold medallist held two assemblies on Thursday morning, one for Year 7-9 pupils and another for Year 10 and 11, to talk about his sprinting achievements this summer.

The 26-year-old was then besieged by a mob of adoring pupils, all wanting to talk to him, take selfies with him and hold his gold medal - something his former PE teacher, and assistant head teacher Rob Pitcher, said he was only too pleased to do.

“It was fantastic to have Danny come down to his old stomping ground. He is such an inspiration to us all and it was great to hear from him that if you give it your all, you can achieve anything,” said Mr Pitcher.

“He was in touch with us not long after his brilliant success at the World Athletics Championships this summer and as ever, he gave us a wonderful talk. He is always so keen to give back to people and for us it is incredible to see a former pupil excel like he has.

“Not only is he a fantastic athlete, but he is a superb role model and a great person. What I liked from the talk was how he said how success did not happen overnight. Initially he was football and golf mad but around Year 9, we thought he should dive into athletics.

“What he has achieved is remarkable but it took an incredible amount of hard work, commitment, pain and failure before triumphing.

“The pupils asked some really intelligent questions and when it was all over, he was mobbed by the pupils, who could not get enough of him - there was a huge sense of excitement.”

Mr Pitcher added that he was so grateful to Danny for coming down and talking to other talented youngsters about what they could achieve.

“Danny spoke to Peter Adeosun and James Gordon, who are two very bright sporting prospects, who look more determined than ever to excel,” he said.

“Having a hero like Danny come to our school is such a treat. He is a wonderful ambassador as he gives great advice, carries himself in such a decent and modest way and he is one of our own too. Whenever he is in town he comes down and for that we are extremely thankful.”