Olympic fever will be hitting the UK soon as the postponed Tokyo games finally get underway next month.
With athletes from around the globe competing in various sports, one couple from Bristol are looking to emulate this in the name of motor neurone disease (MND).
Charlotte Nichols and Stuart Bates have set themselves the enormous challenge of completing every event that will take place in this year’s games while it is on.
From archery to boxing, javelin to hockey the pair will try their luck at every sport this summer to raise money for the MND Association.
Stuart had a close connection to this cause, having lost his brother Spencer to the disease.
He was given two years to live by doctors after his diagnosis, bravely passing away in August 2011.
He loved nothing more than his young family, leaving behind his wife Nicky and two young sons Samuel and Issac.
This had a devastating impact and Stuart spoke about how hard it was to see his condition progress.
“It’s one of the most debilitating, terrible diseases that there is for the victims but also for the people that love them.
“When he died, his sons that he loved completely were four and seven years old and it’s so hard as a young family to have that hope stripped away from you at the time of diagnosis.
“Then just to deteriorate at the rate that he did, with everybody that loves you watching, it’s so hard to go through.”
The event will mark ten years since his passing and is being named the ‘Spennylympics’ as a tribute to him.
Spencer was a keen sports fan and would spend hours with his brother watching events like the Olympics, which is where the idea for this came from.
“I’ve always planned for this year to do something pretty big and spectacular to mark his memory,” Stuart said. “Every time the Olympics came around, we would watch every single event and become instant armchair experts on whatever was going on.
“The idea for doing every event has been in my head for a while now, but I didn’t want to say it out loud because I thought people would tell me it’s impossible.
“As soon as I mentioned it to Charlotte she was exactly the same as me, she said ‘we have to do it.’”
The MND Association helped Spencer through his battle with the condition, providing equipment, care and advice for him and his family.
While he was alive he did all he could to give back to the charity and help raise the profile of the disease and Stuart and Charlotte are looking to continue this work through the Spennylympics.
With the event being such an enduring challenge it has attracted the attention of some high profile names, a lot of which have agreed to help train the pair for the challenge.
Over 50 current and former athletes are involved, including Olympic pentathlon silver medalist Samantha Murray, triathlon world champion Non Stanford and former GB boxer Amir Khan.
Charlotte spoke about how much their support has helped the cause.
“It’s been so surreal,” she said. “All the athletes have been so good and happy to help, I don’t think anyone has said no to us when we have asked.
“Sometimes our phones will ring and it will be a three time gold medal Olympian, which is amazing. They couldn’t do enough for us.”
The challenge has received a lot of media attention from publications like the Irish Post and the Dorset Echo, which has only got the word out to more sportsmen and women.
“We’ve been getting well known Olympic athletes contacting us asking if they can get involved,” Stuart said. “So that has been really humbling for us.
“I think people have seen the challenge and because it’s a bit unusual and it has never been done before they want to be a part of it, which is really exciting.”
Charlotte and Stuart began their training for the event at the start of the year, competing side-by-side in a lot of the sports but also facing each other in the events such as table tennis and badminton.
Both said they were nervous about completing the challenge but have enjoyed the opportunity to do something so unique.
“The event terrifies me, there’s a lot of sports which are quite scary,” Charlotte admitted. “Such as the 10k swim, the ten meter dive, the boxing and the show jumping, but we’re so excited.
“We have had so much fun learning all these sports. When you get the chance to do sailing, taekwondo and kayaking all within two days of each other, it’s ridiculous.
“It’s been fun so far, but we know it’s going to be hard and a challenge, there are some events that really will kill us, but hopefully the money we raise will be worth the pain.
As tough as the event will be, both know that the efforts in both raising money and awareness for MND is what will keep them going.
The effort to do this is something Stuart has been doing for a long time now, having helped his brother organise numerous events in the past as well as doing his own fundraising such as rowing 100 miles up the River Thames.
“Spencer was determined to raise the profile of the disease,” he said. “So as a family we have now raised around £100,000 for these causes and that is the legacy he would have wanted to leave.
“He would be massively proud of us but he would also be laughing his socks off at the pain we are going through, seeing us try to do gymnastics and diving, he would be in pieces.
“If there was a chance to see me suffer Spencer would have been at the front of the queue, as he was my best friend.”
