The party will take part in the official parade to the Menin Gate, where they will be joined by the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, and representatives from the Belgian, French and German National Olympic Committees.

According to records maintained by the Last Post Association, there are three British Olympians who gave their lives in the line of duty during World War I who now lie in the Ypres Salient:

Captain (Doctor) Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC and Bar, MC, of The King's (Liverpool Regiment), who died on August 4 1917, aged 32, was one of only three people to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice for bravery and devotion to duty.

He ran in the 400 metres at the 1908 London Olympics.

2nd Lt G.R.L. 'Twiggy' Anderson, of The Cheshire Regiment, who died on November 9 1914, aged 25, set a world record for the 400m hurdles in 1910 and reached the final at the 1912 Stockholm Games.

The Gunner George Albert (GA) Hawkins of the Royal Garrison Artillery, who died on September 22 1917, aged 34, was a 200m finalist at the 1908 London Olympic Games

The British delegation will be led by the BOA chairman, Colin Moynihan (pictured), who coxed the British eight to silver at the 1980 Moscow Games, and by David Hemery, the vice-chairman of the BOA Board, who won gold at the 1968 Olympics and silver and bronze in Munich four years later.


They will be joined by the IOC member Adam Pengilly, a 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympian in the skeleton event, Sarah Winckless, the chair of the BOA Athletes Commission and a bronze medallist in rowing at the 2004 Games, Richard Leman, the BOA board member who won Olympic hockey bronze in 1984 and gold four years later, Chris Balillieu, the 1976 Olympic silver medallist in rowing and chair of The Olympians, and two World War II veterans in John Peake, a 1948 Olympic silver medallist in hockey, and Michael Lapage, 1948 Olympic silver medallist in rowing.

Also in the party will be Di Ellis  - chair of British Rowing and BOA Board member - John James, the longest serving member of the BOA board who is a former President of Tennis Europe, and Jan Paterson, the BOA's director of Olympic Relations and Deputy Chef de Mission for Team GB.

Also attending as guests of the BOA will be Catharine Madgin, family member of Peake, Gillian Venables, family member of Lapage, and the highly respected Olympic journalist John Goodbody.

This is the first time representatives from the four National Olympic Committees have participated in the Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Yprés in this special tribute to Olympians who have died in conflicts around the world.

"We are deeply honoured to join with friends and colleagues from throughout the Olympic Movement in this solemn tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice," Moynihan said.

"Their bravery during periods of conflict has made it possible for our world to gather every two years, under the banner of the Olympic Games, to reaffirm and celebrate the values of peace, unity and human excellence.

"These timeless values are at the heart of the Olympic Movement, and it is through a shared commitment to these values that the Olympic Movement has evolved to become a powerful force for hope and opportunity around the world."

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