Olympic athletes are often quick to praise the sporting opportunities they were given in their local areas as youngsters.

With the 2024 Paris Olympics just around the corner, figures show how Carlisle stacks up when it comes to opportunities to play sport.

Sport England data from October shows there were 244 sports facilities in the area.

While more than half of these were grass pitches, there were also 16 gyms, 27 sports halls and 10 swimming pools.

Carlisle also has six outdoor tennis courts, five squash courts and an indoor tennis centre.

Carlisle had a sports facility for every 451 residents, or 1,079 excluding grass pitches.

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Across the country these figures were 584 and 1,121 respectively.

Across England, around 77 per cent of facilities registered with Sport England are classed as 'publicly accessible' – which includes those that are free to use, 'pay and play', and sports clubs. The remainder are private.

In Carlisle, 68 per cent are publicly accessible.