Olympic golden girl Lizzy Yarnold inspired a generation when she returned to her secondary school to open its new sports hall.

The British skeleton racer gave a short talk to pupils, governors and teachers at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls as she cut the ribbon of the £1m hall on Monday.

Lizzy, who won gold in the skeleton event at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, was a pupil at the school in Buckland Road between 1999 and 2007.

She said: “I’m so pleased that pupils will get to enjoy this amazing new sports hall, but I really will miss the old one.

“I loved growing into the person I am at this school – the cold changing rooms with the creaky doors, the smell of damp and the dusty walls are all memories of my time here.

“This is going to give generations of pupils the chance to perform and do better than ever before.

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