Elite athletes across Rushcliffe have been awarded grant funding to support their efforts in their chosen sport as they reach for their Olympic and national goals.
The Rushcliffe Elite Sports Grant has been awarded to 19 athletes from the Borough to reduce some of the financial burden of competing at an advanced level that can often create a barrier to their achievements.
Funds may help with costs such as travel, training, accommodation, competition fees and equipment, specialist coaching and other specialist support deemed appropriate by the National Governing Body over the next year.
Those awarded the funding are competing in a number of different sports such as athletics, canoeing, archery, wheelchair tennis, ice hockey and swimming and with some awaiting to see if they take their place at Tokyo 2021.
Athletes include Barney Corrall who is World Junior Champion after winning gold at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Switzerland in 2019 and was also Sports Person of the Year at the 2019 Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards.
Meanwhile, short track speed skater star Charlotte Hayward, whose ambition is to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 2022 and again in Milan 2026, is also among the recipients of the grant.
A full list including information about each athlete is available at www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/eliteathletes.
Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Executive Manager for Neighborhoods and Deputy Chief Executive Dave Banks said: “We are delighted to award these athletes with funding that can help towards the considerable costs of competing and training.
“We take pride in Rushcliffe having great sport and it’s wonderful to see these 19 athletes training in different disciplines at a high level and we hope this grant will allow their talents to flourish with less financial hurdles.
“Particularly in an Olympic year, it brings into focus how vital it is to support our local athletes who are at varying degrees of their journeys trying to reach the top of their sports.
“We also recognise that COVID-19 has caused many challenges for sport, with many international competitions, national training camps and talent days being cancelled. We were therefore happy to use evidence from 2019 and 2020 to help form a decision on grants being awarded.”
