CLITHEROE athlete Leigh Lennon’s bid for Olympic stardom was given a helping hand earlier this month after Dame Kelly Holmes invited her coach and father Don to a training workshop in Leeds.

Lennon, who trains his 17-year-old daughter at Ribble Valley Athletic Club, joined Dame Kelly at Leeds Met Carnegie University as part of the double Olympic gold medallists ‘On Camp with Kelly’ coach development weekend.

The 40-year-old benefited from the specialist advice of not only Dame Kelly but the likes of her former physiotherapist Alison Rose, while he was given a training master class in a range of activities, including circuit training and psychological seminars.

Lennon Snr has no doubt his time with Dame Kelly will give his daughter the edge as she continues on the path towards the 2012 Olympics.

“Dame Kelly is a superb figurehead the athletes can look up to and I’m delighted to be part of that - I know this weekend will benefit Leigh,” he said.

Leigh, who specialises in the 400m and 800m, was selected earlier this year to join the middle-distance training squad.

“We have worked really hard with the athletes and they are being given a lot of knowledge and have hopefully progressed,” said Holmes.

“Now we need to ensure that the coaches are in line with what we are telling them.”

l Dame Kelly Holmes’ mentoring scheme for middle distance runners, ‘On Camp with Kelly’, has been supported by Norwich Union since 2004. Find out more at www.joinourteam.com.