AN OLYMPIC medallist took on a group of freerunners from Basingstoke in a commercial that introduced the local daredevils to a new audience.

Jamaican sprint ace Yohan Blake, who won a silver medal in the 100m and 200m at the London 2012 Olympics, raced against 3RUN, who flipped over him in the starting blocks.

The freerunners, who hail from Basingstoke and have an academy in the town to train youngsters, filmed the scenes in Kingston to promote Thomson Cruises’ 2014 and 2015 sailings from Montego Bay, in Jamaica.

The film also includes shots of 3RUN scaling Dunn’s River Falls, flipping over market stalls in Ocho Rios and diving from the cliffs in Negril, before vaulting on to jet skis in a James Bond-style finale.

3RUN starred in a previous Thomson advert, when they unveiled a multi-million pound makeover of one of the company’s cruise ships.

Chase Armitage, chief executive officer of 3RUN, who directed the advert, Dream Runners, said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Yohan Blake, let alone race against him.

“Despite running at top speed with a head start, Blake sped past us, so it’s certainly clear to see why he is the second fastest man in the world.”

Chase, from Popley, added: “The Jamaican scenery is awesome, and it was amazing for us to freerun against spectacular backdrops like Dunn’s River Falls and Martha Brae River.”

Helen Caron, managing director of Thomson Cruises, said: “We are thrilled that Yohan Blake made a cameo appearance in Dream Runners, to help us illustrate to customers the delights his fantastic home country of Jamaica has to offer.

“We thought there was no better way to showcase our new home port of Jamaica than creating a sequel to last year’s film which used the action movie genre to show off our ship in a unique and entertaining way.

“Having an Olympic medallist and the second fastest man in the world cameo in our film surpassed our expectations.”

Video courtesy of Thomson/YouTube.