An employee from Greggs’ Aylesbury store in Buckinghamshire competed in one of the final events of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Anuradha Cooray represented his home country Sri Lanka last Sunday, as one of the finalists in the Men’s Marathon race, which took place around the streets of the capital.
Positioning at 55 out of 85 for the 26-plus mile race, Cooray came in with a time of two hours, 20 minutes and 41 seconds.
Cooray said he would run 17 miles to and from work everyday to train for the competition, and would consume a range of the high street bakery’s products, including pasties and sandwiches, as part of his Olympic diet.
He told The Daily Mail: “I have a pasty a day. I enjoy the breakfast rolls from Greggs and also the baguettes, in particular the chicken baguettes.”
Fans of Greggs’ Facebook, which recently hit a social media milestone accumulating over half a million likes, have come forward to congratulate the athlete on his efforts in the Olympic event.
A comment from Loren Hirst read: “Yayyyy Cooray 55th place is amazing you have done us all very proud xx.”
Another message from Mohamed Afrah said: “Well done Cooray... 55th is a decent result.”
Earlier last week, Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Greggs, said in a conference call: “I couldn’t let this moment pass without saying how excited we all are that one of our members of staff will be running in the Olympics this Sunday in the Men’s Marathon.
“Quite a momentous moment for Anuradha Cooray from our Aylesbury shop, to represent his home country of Sri Lanka. A very proud moment for him and a very proud moment for everyone at Greggs.”
Stephen Kiprotich from Uganda took home the gold medal for the Men’s Marathon race with a time of two hours, eight minutes and one second. He was followed by Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, both from Kenya, who were awarded silver and bronze.
The three runners were the last Olympians to receive their medals during the closing ceremony of the Games on Sunday evening.
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