Six county sports stars get funding
Six Lanarkshire sports champions have received grants of £34,000 between them from sportscotland.
Hamilton badminton champion Kirsty Gilmour, who won a Commonwealth Games silver medal, and boxing stars Reece Mcfadden and Aqeel Ahmed (both from Motherwell) and Lanark’s Scott Forrest, all received £6000 in the sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards.
Wheelchair curling winners Aileen Neilson and John Doyle, from Strathaven and Stonehouse, respectively, each received £5000.
In total, 65 Scottish athletes across 16 sports, who have the potential to make the podium at the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast or with winter Olympic and Paralympic ambitions, received £312,250, which will provide support for training, competition and living expenses in the lead-up to the three major Games in 2018.
The sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards (SAPA) was introduced for London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Glasgow 2014, and proved to be extremely successful, with 30 medallists at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games having received SAPAS and the wheelchair curlers delivering bronze at the Winter Paralympics in Sochi.
Governing body sportscotland has now invested almost £1.5 million and supported over 120 high performance athletes through this initiative.
Kirsty Gilmour is taking part in the TOTAL BWF World Championships in Glasgow next week, and Aqeel Ahmed is in action at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Hamburg later this month.
In addition to the Commonwealth Games sports, seven winter sport athletes vying for a place on Team GB and Paralympics GB will receive support.
All three curling teams are also set to benefit; Team Muirhead and Team Smith have already booked their places in Pyeongchang, while selection of the Paralympic curlers is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.
Sports minister Aileen Campbell said:“i’m really pleased to see so many talented Scottish athletes receiving financial support from the sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards to help them train for next year’s major sporting events.
“Using a mixture of Scottish Government and National Lottery funding, we are building a world-class system for high performance athletes in Scotland, and this is an important component of delivering the sporting legacy from hosting the Commonwealth Games.
“Initiatives such SAPAS have already helped to deliver success on the global stage for Scottish athletes and I am sure there is much more to come.
“I can’t wait to follow their progress and I look forward to the 2018 Commonwealth, winter Olympic and Paralympic Games – I’m sure Team Scotland and Team GB will do us proud, yet again.”
Speaking at Boxing Scotland’s Performance Centre in Glasgow, where the awards were announced, Mike Whittingham, sportscotland director of high performance, said: “We know that the sportscotland Athlete Personal Awards can make areal difference to athletes with podium aspirations, and it is fantastic to be able to give this support at such an important time for these 78 athletes who have their sights set on the 2018 Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“These awards are designed to ensure that Scotland’s athletes can focus on their ideal training, recovery and injury prevention strategies.
“At this level in high performance sport, medals are won by the smallest of margins and that requires meticulous preparation and support.
“SAPAS complement the work of the‘team behind the team’the network of support from the governing body, the clubs, the coaches, the families, and of course the specialists at the sportscotland Institute of Sport. By working together, we can ensure the athletes who represent Scotland on Team GB, Paralympics GB and Team Scotland are fully prepared to deliver.”