A PERSONAL trainer has been selected to train the world’s best athletes at the Olympics.

Katie De-Mouilpied has struck gold after fighting off stiff competition from thousands of other fitness experts to book her place on a flight to the Chinese capital.

The former athlete and footballer for Manchester United and Manchester City Ladies – who lives off Lombard Grove in Fallowfield – will be one of only two fitness experts responsible for running training sessions at the Olympic gyms which will be used by competitors.

Katie will be based in the Olympic Village – where the athletes will also live throughout the Games – and will work from a 2,000 square metre gym, which houses more than 1,000 pieces of exercise equipment.

Katie, 33, made it through a set of gruelling on-line exams, in which she scored 100 per cent, as well as face-to-face interviews to secure her place at the Olympics – where she will be responsible for assisting medal-hungry athletes with their last minute training preparations.

Katie – who was born in Withington and attended Ladybarn Primary School and Kingsway secondary – said: "I got an email from the National Register of Personal Trainers offering me the chance to take part in the Olympics, but I deleted it as I’m not really one for putting myself up for things.

"A week later I got another email about it so I told my mum, Ann, who eventually talked me into applying for it."

"I then had an interview and found out I’d been selected while I was on holiday in LA."

Katie – who studied sport A-Level at Pendleton College and now works as a freelance personal trainer at Bannatyne’s gym in Manchester City Centre – will jet out to Beijing on Thursday, August 7 the day before the games begin.

She said: "The atmosphere around the Olympic Games is something special and it’s going to be great to not only savour at least some of that, but also be able to play a part in getting athletes ready for what may be the peak of their sporting careers."

While in Beijing Katie will work in the Olympic gym run by Italian training equipment manufacturer, Technogym, and is already expecting a hectic work schedule.

Katie said: "The gym is open from 6am until 10pm at night, so I’m not sure how much of a chance I will have to catch any of the competition or do any sightseeing!"

  • BOXER Joe Murray says he’s going to the Olympics for one reason only - to bring home the gold medal to Levenshulme.

    Joe, 21, has set up a training camp to acclimatise before heading off to the Olympic Village in Beijing next week.

    The sporting hero, whose brother John has just become British lightweight professional champion, used to live on Broom Lane with his mum Veronica, and brothers John and Steven, 22.

    Joe, a bantamweight, hopes to go one better than his mate Amir Khan, who is tipped to fight Joe’s brother John and who took the silver medal in the lightweight category four years ago at the Olympics in Athens.

    He said: "I’m really looking forward to it, I can‘t wait. I’ve been working towards this for four years.

    "I’m quite confident about it, I’m not going in to this to just make up the numbers. I think I can bring back the gold."

    Joe qualified for his place in the British Olympic boxing team when he took the bronze medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Chicago last October. He beat Commonwealth Games gold medallist Bruno Julie en route to the semi- final where he lost 20-11 to Enkhbat Badar-Uugan.

    He said: "I was on cloud nine when I got the bronze and qualified for the Olympics. That was a big achievement and I’ve just been trying to keep my weight down and train hard since."

    Joe went to Varna Street Primary School in Openshaw and the Wright Robinson College in Gorton. He began boxing training at Shannon’s gym in Clayton, aged 13, after his mum and dad encouraged the brothers to take up the sport, to keep them active and off the streets.

    He now trains at the Moss Side ABC under trainer Joe Gallagher, where his brother John also trains.

    And although Joe now lives in Denton with his girlfriend, Sarah, he still spends time in Levenshulme visiting his family. He said: "I don’t go out much, but I like to pop round and see my mum and brothers quite a lot."

    Joe says he is not sure at the moment when he will turn professional. He said: "At the moment, I’m just putting all my focus on the Olympics."