Medallion man: Big Sam Allardyce meets Olympic hero Mark Hunter

Olympic silver medallist Mark Hunter was back at West Ham today to talk to local children from the community as well as the players and manager Sam Allardyce.

The lifelong Hammers fan, who won silver in the lightweight double sculls with Zac Purchase to add to his gold medal from Beijing, took time to talk to local children about the legacy of the London Games.

“A lot of the kids had watched the Games on TV and some had been lucky to get tickets so today was about hopefully inspiring a generation,” he said.

Hunter also took time to talk to the players, who had watched his Olympic rowing final on August 4 en route to their pre-season friendly defeat at Ipswich.

Hunter added: “It was great to catch up with the players and Big Sam who said that, despite my disappointment at not winning gold, I would look back and appreciate what I’d done.”