THE Rio Games are less than a month away and more than 500 children celebrated their love of the sporting spectacle with a special Olympic event.

The Cartmel Olympics saw youngsters from Allithwaite, Cartmel, Grange, Flookburgh, Lindale, Leven Valley and Dean Barwick schools flock to Cartmel Priory School.

The infants and juniors contested athletics events on the track and enjoyed a taste of a wide range of Olympic sports – from baseball to hockey, boccia to badminton.

Competitors enjoyed an opening ceremony featuring samba dancing and a parade of all the schools led by Flookburgh’s Kelsey Pearson, an England Under-17s football international who played in the European Championships earlier this year, and 2012 Olympic torch bearer Dr Jim Lavin, a professor of PE and sport.

That was followed by track and field events and sports taster sessions in the morning and afternoon, with prizes awarded at the end of the day.

Organiser Ian Nicol, head teacher at Leven Valley, said: “The day was a huge success, a real example of how working together as small rural schools we can offer an exciting and memorable experience for children that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.”

The hosting of the Peninsular Olympics was made possible thanks to funding from Poole Townsend, Lakeland Ltd, the Charles Godwin Trust, Taylor Hibbert Trust, Grange Lions, CGP, Grange Rotary, Cumbria Active, Holker Estates Michelle Jurd Trust and Grange Council.