Bolton cycling legend Mick Coupe 87 to be added to Spirit of Sport statue

A LEGENDARY Bolton cyclist is set to finally be recognised for his record breaking achievements aged 87.

Mick Coupe, from Lostock, features in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first man ever to ride length of England into Scotland in less than 24 hours and is a British 24 hour champion and British 24 hour team record holder, but for over 40 years has been overlooked by the Spirit of Sport statue, which lists the borough's greatest sporting heroes.

But this is set to change thanks to a decision by the council, taken after enquiries made by The Bolton News, to include Mr Coupe’s name in the next round of nominations.

Mr Coupe said: “I always thought it was on already its just one of those things you don’t stop and look at. Then one day my son noticed it wasn’t.”

Mr Coupe’s son Anthony said he felt his father was deserving of far more recognition.

He said: “This will mean a hell of a lot to him because at first we though he was on there but then when we looking it up it turned out he’s not.

“He’s done a lot for Horwich, been a good pillar of the community, he holds all these records. He’s never got any acclaim for it and he’s never really sought it.

“Funny thing is, you go into my dad’s bedroom and you can see the statue from his window.”

The Spirit of Sport statue cost £350,000 and was installed in December, 2005.

Mr Coupe’s name will now feature on the statue alongside Bolton icons such as Nat Lofthouse, Amir Khan and Jason Kenny.

Olympic cyclist Kenny, now Great Britain’s most successful Olympian, was added to the statue in 2009 following his heroics at the Beijing Games.

Council deputy leader, Cllr Hilary Fairclough, said: "The original 600 names on the Spirit of Sport were chosen after consultation with local sport clubs and a public campaign in the Bolton News.

"Since the sculpture was installed, new ‘sportraits’ have been periodically added and we will be looking to do this again in the future.

"Mr Coupe is clearly a worthy candidate for inclusion and we have added his name to the list for the next stage of nominations."

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