A new exhibition has opened at the Manx Museum in Douglas to coincide with the Olympics in Paris this summer.
Entitled ‘Manx Olympians’, the new display looks back more than 100 years, celebrating island participants in the Games over the past century.
There is also a nod to the future with inclusion of a selection of ‘hopefuls’ – those Manx competitors who are in the running for selection either this year or for future Olympics.
Curator of social history at Manx National Heritage, Matthew Richardson, said: ‘This exhibition is the product of nearly a year of research, and while some of the Manx Olympians of more recent years are well-known figures, such as Sir Mark Cavendish, the challenge for me was finding the lesser-known competitors from the past.
‘I’m delighted we have managed to find photographs of quite a few.’
Matthew continued: ‘As part of the exhibition, we have a varied selection of Olympic artefacts; clay shooter Tim Kneale and snowboarder Zoe Gillings-Brier have been fantastically helpful to us in bringing these items together, but the star object has to be the gold medal awarded to cyclist Peter Kennaugh at the 2012 London Olympics.
‘We are extremely grateful to Peter and wish to place on record our sincere appreciation of his kindness in lending his personal medal to form part of this special exhibition.’
Rower Sidney Swann and Kennaugh are the only islanders to have won Olympic Games gold medals, while polo player Frederick Agnew Gill won a bronze medal in 1900 and Cavendish won a silver on the track in 2016.
The Manx Olympians exhibition runs until February 2025. Admission is free although donations are welcome.
For more information, please visit the Manx National Heritage website: