One North East have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Colombian Olympic Committee which sets the scene for exclusive discussions on the use of Tyneside facilities in 2012.

 

The breakthrough is the result of early discussions set up by Glenn McCrory, the North East’s only ever boxing world champion, as first revealed by insidethegames in March 2008.

 

McCrory said: “I got involved in talks with David Harrison, the boss of an intelligence and security business called Team Savant which operates in Colombia.

 

“David is from Annfield Plain and has good connections with the Colombian boxing authorities.

 

“From there, things progressed quickly and I realised we needed to put them on a formal footing – which is why I approached One North East and Sport England.”

 

McCrory is also trying to persuade the Cuban boxing team to base itself in the North East before London 2012.

 

Since making its Olympic debut at Los Angeles in 1932, Colombia has competed in Games except Helsinki in 1952.

 

The South American country have won 11 medals, but only one gold when Maria Isabel Urrutia won the women's 75kg weightlifting when the sport made its debut at Sydney in 2000.

 

Colombia had 68 athletes in Beijing at the last Olympics, competing in 15 sports, winning a silver and bronze in weightlifting and wrestling respectively.

 

The use of McCrory’s International School of Boxing in Newcastle would obviously feature strongly in their programme, as would Gateshead International Stadium, which has staged several televised world-class athletics events, including the 1989 and 2000 European Cup finals.

 

Stacy Hall, director of Communications and Tourism at One North East, said: “I am pleased we have secured talks to use the region as a base to train athletes for 2012.

 

“It is a testament to the world-class facilities we have in place to support international sporting events.”

 

Marcela Jaramillo, President of the Colombian Olympic Committee, said: “We appreciate the excellent opportunity provided by Team Savant and One North East to prepare our squad for the 2012 Games.”

 

Colombia had previously looked at a number of locations in the South-East.

 

The announcement followed yesterday's that the Dutch swimming team had agreed to base themselves in Leeds before London 2012.