IT is one year since London 2012 captured the attention of the nation.

In a series of special reports, each day this week we look at where Warrington's Olympic heroes are now.

A record five took to the start line in London.

And we look at the wider question of legacy in town.

Today, we speak to handball hero, Holly Lam-Moores who has had a rollercoaster year.

AFTER playing in front of 8,000 at the Olympic games, you would think Holly Lam-Moores would have had a relatively quiet 12 months since.

But the handball hero has said instead the last year has been even more of a rollercoaster after making the difficult decision to cancel her contract with Danish Champions League club Viborg HK.

A knee injury has meant Holly now lives back at home for the first time since she was 16-years-old but she is looking forward to staying settled in the area with her new role developing the sport and getting more kids involved at grassroots level.

The 22-year-old said: “Leading up to the Olympics I had a lot of problems with injuries but the thing that sticks out most in my mind is being part of a small sport with 8,000 people watching you.

“It was a dream come true and for so many people who didn’t know about the sport to come watch us was humbling.

“The Olympic village was like being in a weird paradise with people walking round stamped with what country they were from.

“You knew the other GB athletes from their clothing and people would smile at each other and start conversations and invite you to watch them.

“It felt like one big family.”

 

Holly admits it was a difficult balance ‘taking it all in’ and staying focussed.

She added: “I was eating dinner and Andy Murray came in with the other tennis players and asked what we did.

“You think ‘Oh my god’ but then you realise we deserved to be there just as much.”

But a back injury before the Olympics soon had a knock-on effect.

Holly flew to Denmark the day after the Olympics closing ceremony to become the first ever British player to play Champions League handball but in the autumn she was in a lot of pain and was told she had no cartilage left in her left knee.

After surgery in February, she was told she would struggle to play for the rest of this season or possibly the start of the next.

Holly, who will start working for the Warrington Wolves Foundation full time in September, added: “I had to do a lot of training before the Olympics and I would not have been at the best of my ability if I hadn’t done that.

“It’s happened to a lot of girls who have retired now after starting the programme six years ago.

“It was really hard as I thought I could play for another 10 years but now I’m still involved in sport but have changed my focus and want to see handball become a popular sport and use my experiences to inspire others.”