Legendary gymnast Olga Korbut poses with Annie and Millie Walker at the Royal Opera House

A young gymnast determined not to miss her chance to see the Olympic Games - despite not having any tickets - ended up meeting one of her sporting heroines.

Annie Walker, eight, from Priory Road, Hornsey, was gutted to see so many empty seats at the gymnastics events at the North Greenwich Arena.

But after hearing the seats were probably reserved by corporate sponsors, she wrote to as many as she could find, saying, “If you don’t want the tickets, then please, please can I have them?”

The approach of the Rokesly Junior School pupil, who trains at the Harringay Club in Tottenham Lane, Hornsey, melted hearts at fuel giant BP.

Despite not having any tickets available, they invited her family to tour the Royal Opera House exhibition The Olympic Journey, where they met veteran Belarusian gymnastics superstar Olga Korbut, also known as ‘The Sparrow From Minsk’, who holds six Olympic medals from the 1970s, including four gold.

Annie’s father Anthony said: “The other responses, as expected, were just ‘Dear John’ letters, but BP were excellent.

“It was a brilliant day. We spent quite a lot of time with Olga, who told Annie about what it takes to be a gymnast and how much time she had to spend in the gym every day.

“We all went as a family and had a really great time. I’ve got to tip my hat to BP, they didn’t have to do anything.”

Annie hopes to one day follow in Olga’s well-placed footsteps to pursue Olympic glory.