Kare pleased with big year after medals joy
TEAM GB wheelchair racing superstar Kare Adenegan has been welcomed home after a double-medal haul at the World Para-Athletics Championships.
Adenegan, from Coventry, scooped two silver medals at the championships in Dubai in the T34 800m and 100m races.
The 18-year-old athlete started her studies in history and philosophy at the University of Warwick this year and is a sports scholarship athlete.
Her support team at the University of Warwick were on hand to welcome back Adenegan at the state-of-the-art Sports and Wellness Hub – which she uses as a training base.
Adenegan said she has had great support on social media and her house-mates threw a surprise celebratory party when she came home.
She said: “It felt really good picking up those medals and I was really pleased with my performance. It’s been a big year for me, finishing my A-Levels and starting university, so I was pleased to get a PB in the 800m. “I received some lovely tweets while out in Dubai – knowing I’m inspiring people here on campus and across the city is great.
“It was great to see my house-mates when I got back and there was even a surprise party. The team at the University of Warwick have been really supportive too.
“When you are travelling around the world doing competitions, it’s really nice to know you have that support back home.” The performance sport scholarship programme at the University of Warwick supports elite student athletes in maintaining dual academic and sporting careers whilst studying. The University has recently invested in refurbishment of the athletics track that Kare trains on, which is a Mondotrack surface – the ideal surface for wheelchair racing.
Adenegan added: “Since joining the University of Warwick I have had a full support team that enable me to study alongside continuing my training.
“My mentor here helps me to balance sport and academia, and I get support from the sports management team too, including a designated strength and conditioning coach.
“The facilities here are very accessible and great for my training. I use the athletics track a lot, which has the perfect surface, and then over at Sports and Wellness Hub there is a lot of equipment which I can use in the gym.”
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Director of Sport and Active Communities at the University of Warwick, said: “Kare is an inspiration to students at the University of Warwick, a huge advocate for promoting active and healthy lifestyles, and also does fantastic work in local communities too.
“She is a regular at the Sports and Wellness Hub as well as on the athletics track, which has the optimum surface for wheelchair racing. Our investment in the track is an example of our commitment to developing the best possible facilities for our elite athletes.
“As part of the elite performance programme, we have a support team who work closely with Kare on a daily basis and they will continue to work with her as she gears up for Tokyo 2020.”
Professor Christine Ennew OBE, Provost at the University of Warwick, added: “It’s fantastic to have someone like Kare here at the university, she is an incredibly talented student and athlete too.
“We’ve put a lot of investment in to support elite athletes like Kare – they can be the role models that encourage more people to participate in sport.”
It felt really good picking up those medals and I was really pleased with my performance. It’s been a big year. Kare Adenegan