Medals success at the Commonwealth Games has highlighted the inspirational golden generation of sportsmen and women inspiring Cumbria. Jacob Colley profiles our stars and their rising fortunes.

IT is hoped that the success of Cumbrian athletes at the Commonwealth Games will inspire Cumbria's next generation of youngsters to take up sport.

Cumbrian athletes have seen success in a variety of sports, from men's hammer to women's netball.

Carlisle's Nick Miller won gold in the men's hammer final on Sunday morning, improving on his silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Cumbria is above the national average for physical activity and that feat is partly down to the success of athletes such as netball star Lauren Smith and swimmer Luke Greenbank.

Above that, the county already has young stars making an impact internationally in football and cricket.

It's hoped that, across the board, they will inspire others to take action.

In the Active Lives survey released last month, the only areas to fall below the national average for the percentage of people who said they were "active", were Copeland and Barrow.

The criteria for people who are "active" is 150 minutes plus each week.

A total of 66.1 per cent of people in the county were marked as "active", compared with 65.4 per cent in England as a whole.

Active Cumbria works to encourage sport and physical activity across the county.

Senior manager at the partnership, Bruce Lawson said the athletes' success is bound to inspire youngsters.

He said: "Evidence would always suggest that during a major sporting event, particularly when it is on TV, it has a huge impact.

"It creates a sense of enthusiasm, to say that I want to be more active, or I want to get back into sport.

"The achievements of our Cumbria athletes will have a huge impact on youngsters who are on that pathway to sport."

Bruce insists that you don't have to reach the highest level to benefit from sport.

He added: "You don't have to get to that level to benefit from sport, it helps really develop and shape youngsters and their youngsters.

"The social contact you get is for life. Sport helped to shape me to who I am today, sport is a great medium."

Also picking up a medal was badminton player Lauren Smith, who picked up a bronze medal in the badminton mixed team event on Monday.

Lauren also won silver in the mixed doubles, alongside Marcus Ellis.

The Badminton star trains at the North Cumbria Performance Centre in Penrith, a place where coach Ben Davidson works.

He says success like that of Lauren can have a huge impact on youngsters, he said: "It can be massive. Lauren is really good on getting up here, if she is up in Cumbria she will often help the kids.

"She will lead a session and that is really good. It shows them what they can do if they put their mind to it.

"She quite often brings goodies with her, the number of people with Smith printed on their back at the club - there is quite a lot of those!"

Ben says the sport is on the up again, after a period of decline.

"There was a bit of a lull where not many people were playing and junior clubs were closing.

"But of the back of athletes like Lauren's success and hard work in the area, it seems to be biting back.

"There is quite a bit going on in Penrith."

Dan Kemp is an U11 national swimming champion and Lauren helps with the coaching of him from time to time.

Ben added: "When she is back she quite often does a bit of coaching with him, it is nice for them to do work with people they have seen on TV.

"It is really nice."

Cockermouth swimmer Luke Greenbank was another of Cumbria's medal winning athletes at this year's Commonwealth games.

Luke picked up a silver medal in the 4x100 medley relay, which was the 20-year-old's first medal in the competition.

He started his swimming career at Cockermouth Swimming Club, who have had huge success in producing professional swimmers over the years.

Fellow Gold Coast attendee Jacob Leach also heralds from the swimming club.

Sean Balmer coached Luke Greenbank for eight years, he says the success of athletes coming from his club proves that you don't need the best facilities to succeed in sport.

He said: "It is brilliant, we have had five professional athletes over the last three years.

"Most clubs would love to have one and we have had five. I would single us out as the only club that is voluntary that has that level of representation.

"It is not all about facilities, we only have a 25 feet pool, but it is all about substantiated believe."

And Penrith-born Mike Ellery helped England's men's rugby sevens, as Maryport's Simon Lawson also won bronze in the T54 marathon.

Helen Housby of Drumleaning, near Wigton, scored the winning goal in the women's netball gold match against Australia.

The Furness had no athletes representing the area in the Commonwealth Games, but they have their own sporting star.

Georgia Stanway is a 19-year-old from Barrow who is seen as the future of the England national team and also Manchester City ladies.

At only 19 year's of age she has already represented her country at three different age groups (U15, U17 and U19).

In 2016, Stanway was nominated for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

A year later, she was nominated for the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award.

It is hoped she will help fly the flag for Barrow and help inspire the next generation of Furness footballers and sports stars.

To find out more about how to get involved in sport, visit www.activecumbria.org.