OLYMPIC cyclist Harry Hill is to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace later this month for a special celebration, where he will be recognised as the country's oldest surviving Olympic medal winner.

Harry, now aged 89, of Higher Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, earned a bronze medal at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 in the 4000m team pursuit, alongside teammates Ernest Mills, Charles King and Ernest Johnson.

All Olympic medalists have been invited to Buckingham Palace to help celebrate the centenary of the British Olympic Association (BOA), formed on May 24,1905 during a meeting at the House of Commons.

The BOA has confirmed through its own records, that Harry is the UK's oldest living Olympic medal winner.

Initially, the association only invited those who won medals from the 1948 Olympic Games in London onwards, as it considered that all those who competed prior to that were likely to have passed away.

But when a cyclist friend mentioned the event to Harry, he got in touch with the organisers. In the meantime, an invitation arrived from Buckingham Palace, asking for Harry's presence at the reception on March 23.

Harry, formerly of Sheffield, said: "I am looking forward to going to London, but I won't be cycling there! I think I'll be taking my son, Hedley, with me and we'll be going on the train."

It is hoped that stars of more recent Olympics, such as Kelly Holmes, Linford Christie and Bury Boxing Club's Amir Khan, will also be in attendance.

Harry, a father-of-five, only gave up cycling last year after he fell from his bike, injuring his hip. But the super cyclist estimates that since he took up the sport at the age of 17, he has covered around one million miles on two wheels.

As a 20-year-old, Harry was thrust into the limelight as an Olympic medalist - an experience Amir Khan emulated last year with his silver medal exploits at the age of 17.

But the Games, and indeed, the world was far different when Harry rode to glory 69 years ago.

Harry said: "It was not like it is today, it was very basic. We stayed in an Olympic village a few miles away from Berlin and had our own training facilities to use. The swimmers had a lake to practise in, and we had cycle paths to use to help us keep fit.

"Our event took place in a velodrome near to the stadium, so we didn't compete at the same place as the runners.

"We received our medals from Olympic officials. But it was all very exciting. It's what I dreamt of doing when I first started racing."

The 1936 Berlin Olympics are best remembered for Adolf Hitler's failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. One of the most popular heroes of the Games was African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.

After his success at the Olympics, Harry went on to Milan to ride, and broke the one-hour record by completing 25 miles. And at the age of 80 he attempted this again at the velodrome in Manchester and was just a mile short of his initial record!

When Harry retired from his garage business in Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, at the age of 60, he decided to take a trans-Atlantic trip to see relations in Vancouver, and went by means of pedal power wherever it was possible.

Harry cycled to London and flew to New York - along with his bike - ,and even caused a minor incident trying to cycle across the causeway to the mainland.

After being stopped by the police as he pedalled across one of New York's many bridges, he had to climb aboard a truck with his bike, before riding the rest of the way to New York City. He then continued his journey down the East Coast and then up to Vancouver where he caught up with family. But after ten days with relatives, he was back on his bike for the return journey to the UK.

Harry still enjoys good health at the ripe old age of 89 and he is sure it is because of cycling.

His family are proud of his achievements and success and Harry is still immensely proud of his two medals - the bronze medal and another for taking part in the Games.

Mr Hill's son, Hedley, also of Higher Ainsworth Road, said: "We are very proud of dad and it's nice that he has been invited to Buckingham Palace with the other medal winners."