Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, April 06, 2010

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World-class sprinter Tyson Gay (center) led the way as Beaumont eighth-graders inaugurated their "World Fit" walking trail behind the middle school.

After a pep talk from two world-class athletes, students at Beaumont and Winburn middle schools are on the move as part of a nationwide pilot called “World Fit: Olympians for Worldwide Fitness.” 

“I want the kids to understand how to achieve goals and also how to stay healthy and fit,” said Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay, a Lexington native. “I worked hard to get where I am, and they can, too.” 

Gay and gold medal diver Micki King visited both schools on the first day back from spring break to kick off the program, which targets childhood obesity. 

“We feel like we had something special in our lives, and this is a way to give back,” said King, a former assistant athletic director at the University of Kentucky who won gold at the 1972 Games. 

The idea is to encourage students to get outdoors and exercise 45 minutes a day on campus or in their neighborhoods. Friendly competition fuels the program as the kids set personal goals, tally their miles online and chart their progress on giant world maps. 

This year’s theme is “Walking to London and Back” – site of the 2012 Summer Games where Gay is training to compete. Altogether, local students will actually walk a lot further during the six-week program. 

“They’re going to London by way of all the (summer) Olympic cities since they were born,” starting with Atlanta in 1996, King explained. 

World Fit, founded by a former Olympic swimmer, launched last year in Florida. This spring, Lexington is among 10 pilot communities with nearly 30 participating schools across the country. King said bringing World Fit to the Bluegrass was an easy call. 

“Tyson was the diamond who would make this work. They saw him on TV in ’08, and he’s one of them,” she said of the Lafayette High graduate who attended Winburn as a middle-schooler. 

Gay, who has clocked a personal-best 9.69 in the 100 meters, talked with the Beaumont and Winburn students about his training regimen, world travels and celebrity status. 

“What keeps me motivated is trying to reach my full potential,” said Gay, who spends three hours a day on the track and another hour swimming. 

While competitions have taken him to interesting cities like Beijing, he described himself as “just a regular person.” 

“I like being low-key and being around people who love me,” he said. 

Gay, who first made the school track team as an eighth-grader, suggested that middle school is the ideal time to teach maturing youngsters the importance of life-long physical activity. 

“And it all starts with walking.”  

Resources: 

• Online: World Fit: Olympians for Worldwide Fitness 
• Lexington facilitator: Micki King 
• Beaumont Middle School coordinator: Lora Browning 
• Winburn Middle School coordinator: Susan Sallee