A GOLD medal winning Olympian has praised the “well-oiled machine” after getting his first Coronavirus jab.

Daley Thompson, aged 62, went to the Brighton Centre to get his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The former decathlete, who took gold at both the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympics in 1980 and 1984, even had a cheeky message for his followers on Twitter.

Mr Thompson CBE lives in Brighton, and joked that many people may not believe he was old enough to get the vaccine.

He wrote: “I’ve just had my first jab at the Brighton Centre. You are now all thinking ‘are they doing the over 40s already?’

“Go and have a jab to see a great well-oiled GB (Great Britain) machine in action.”

Mr Thompson’s message encourages people to get their coronavirus vaccine, and supporters of the Olympian praised him.

In reply Peter Kelsey wrote: “(It is) great but no surprise to see you leading by example as a very healthy guy who is happy to have the vaccine.”

The government has said it aims to offer every adult who wishes to get a vaccine a first dose before the end of July.

Current advice is that those in their late 50s can now get the vaccine.

There have been fears about the uptake of the coronavirus vaccine among Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups.

Previously The Argus reported how Crawley comedian Romesh Ranganathan had joined a television advert campaign to explain why it is both safe and important to get the jab.

He was motivated after talking with his mother Shanthi Ranganathan, who works as a key worker, raised her fears about the safety of the vaccine.

Last year official statistics showed black and Asian people were more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people.

Mr Ranganathan, 42, said: “It just feels so heart-breaking to me that people from ethnic minorities are inflicting a degree of separation upon themselves from not trusting in this, and I understand all the reasons why – I've heard all the arguments.

“But I just feel so strongly that we need to make sure we dispel some of these myths, so that people are getting involved and we can get ourselves out of this pandemic.”

Daley Thompson is among the latest celebrities to get the vaccine, and had a cheeky jibe at Sussex television host Piers Morgan and ITV newsreader Mark Austin.

“I know you both had yours a while ago with others of your age,” Mr Thompson wrote.