Honouring the area’s great sports
SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR:
WORLD champion Katie Ormerod knows the highs and lows of professional sport more than most.
Just two years ago it seemed things couldn’t get worse for her after the Team GB athlete had gone into the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as a medal favourite but first suffered a broken wrist and then split her heel in two during training. She needed seven operations on her injured heel and it put her out of action for 18 months.
But the 23-year-old from Brighouse showed her true grit and determination and in her first full season back after those injuries she won a world snowboarding title.
This makes her the first British woman to win a World Cup title on snow … and the first ever British snowboarder.
Katie said: “I broke my wrist on my first day of training at the Olympics but it was a minor break and I’d have carried on. But then when I broke my heel it needed emergency surgery which ruled me out. I was really unlucky. It’s an extreme sport and you do all you can to minimise the dangers but these things happen.”
Katie, who has also suffered serious injuries to her shoulder and knee, competes in Big Air and Slopestyle events.
Big Air is just one jump where competitors work in as many flips, spins and tricks as they can. Slopestyle involves obstacles and jumps and it’s in this that she triumphed in the World Cup competition.
The snowboarding season runs from August to May and is held all over the world from New Zealand, the USA and Canada to European countries such as Switzerland and Italy.
As a professional snowboarder Katie now receives Lottery funding through UK Sport, along with sponsorship and prize money.
Katie started snowboarding when she was just five at the dry ski slope in Halifax as her parents Claire and Mark are keen snowboarders. She was selected as part of the British Snowboard Team when she was just 13.
The former Hipperholme Grammar School pupil has a younger brother, Harvey, who is a football apprentice at Bradford City.
Her next goal is the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
Katie added: “I’ve been snowboarding all my life – ever since I can remember. It’s the biggest adrenaline rush ever flying down a mountain. I absolutely love it.”
Katie will appear on BBC1 Question of Sport tonight (Friday, June 19) alongside captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell plus England goalkeeper Jack Butland, Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis and boxing great Barry McGuigan.
When Fes Batista suffered horrendous racial abuse he fought back … but not on the streets.
For the 30-year-old Crosland Moor man channelled all his energy into boxing and is now so good he’s being guided by a boxing legend in the USA.
Fes was nominated by his friend, Tony Goldstein, who said: “Fes is an amazing young local man who has overcome adversity to reach the most amazing international heights and still has so much more to achieve. He has Huddersfield ingrained in his heart and is so passionate about our town from a both a business and a local community perspective.”
Tony says the former Moor End High pupil – who is also known as Mohammed Faisal – suffered racial abuse and even contemplated taking his own life at his lowest ebb but then decided to plough all his energy into his real passion, boxing.
And he has taken his boxing to another level by hooking up with American boxing legend Roy Jones Jnr who held several light heavyweight titles. Fes now fights out of Roy’s camp in Pensacola, Florida and has become an anti-bullying ambassador for the World Boxing Council.
Huddersfield Town fan Fes, who studied coaching and sports development at Manchester
Jubilant Fes Batista after one of his bouts
Metropolitan University, is known as The Terrier in the ring.
Tony added: “When he’s home in Huddersfield Fes spends his time delivering speeches on anti-bullying in our local schools and has donated an award to schools to give out to young students who epitomise Fes’ beliefs in equality at all levels. He’s a wonderfully grounded, community ambassador who has achieved world fame on CNN with anti-bullying campaigning and is a credit to Huddersfield.”
Fes said: “I went to America and against all the odds managed to get signed by a superstar. I won my first fight in Florida in front of 10,000 fans in an iconic arena. It’s been a hard journey with many setbacks but as I head back to America after the coronavirus lockdown I look forward to a new long-term contract. My plans are to complete my story which is to go from the lowest point one can get which is suicidal to the highest point which is to become a champion.
“My dream is to finish my career with a big fight at the John Smith’s Stadium.”