A GOLD-MEDAL winner was the guest of honour at an event to mark the beginning of construction work at the future Olympic White Water Canoe Centre.

Team GB canoeist Laura Blakeman officially opened the work at the centre, off Highbridge Street on the Waltham Abbey border, with the promise the venue would offer a “sporting legacy for a generation.”

Olympic authorities have said the site will be completed before 2012 and will be immediately available as a training facility for people of all abilities before the games even begin.

Laura Blakeman said: ““It has been a huge honour to represent Great Britain in competitions across the world so it’s great to see the start of work on this new canoeing venue where I hope to compete on home soil in 2012.

“It was having local canoeing facilities that helped me in the early stages of my career so I’m delighted that after the excitement of the Games in 2012 this new venue will leave a lasting sporting legacy for a new generation of canoeists of all ages and abilities.”

The centre will host all the canoeing events during the Olympic games.

After the games it will convert into a sporting and leisure facility for canoeing and white-water rafting and will host a number of major sporting events. It will be owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Lee Valley chief executive Shaun Dawson said: “This excellent venue, which will actually be open before the games, will be used by a wide range of people from elite canoeists to people who’ve never paddled before.

“The centre will open again shortly after the games and we’re expecting 70,000 visitors per year, most of them taking up the challenge of white water rafting. We’ll also be providing canoeing sports development opportunities for clubs, colleges, universities, schools and community groups.”