A CENTRAL FIFE parkrun event welcomed a golden visitor on Sunday as a Paralympic champion dropped in to the delight of participants.

Youngsters who took part in the Fife Cycle Park junior parkrun were paid a visit by Ben Sandilands, who last month won gold in the T20 1500 metres event in Paris.

The Fife AC star, who is from Kirkcaldy and is part of a training group led by his coach, Steve Doig, at Pitreavie Athletics Centre in Dunfermline, made his Paralympic Games debut at the Stade de France.

Ben, who also won gold in the 2023 Para Athletics World Championship, which was also held in the French capital, stormed to victory by breaking the world record with a time of three minutes and 45.40 seconds, beating the previous best time in the event, held by USA's Mikey Brannigan, by 0.10 seconds.

Kids at the parkrun were able to have a look up close at his gold medal, whilst he also helped out other volunteers running the event.

Andrew Aird, regional ambassador for south east Scotland with parkrun UK, said: "Ben was brilliant with letting them see and hold his gold medal, and to have their photos taken with him.

"Ben also did a bit of volunteering for us and it was a really, really good atmosphere.

"It went well. We had 21 (participants) there, which is good as there's normally about 10-12, so that's quite a big uplift.

"Nine of them had a PB (personal best) as well, which we put down to them seeing Ben's gold medal and tried to replicate, and a couple were there for the very first time."

Taking place every Sunday, at 9.30am, the junior parkrun is held over a distance of 2k, and is open to those aged between 4 and 14 of all abilities.

For more information, find them on Facebook, or visit www.parkrun.org.uk/fifecyclepark-juniors.