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4 Welsh Athletes selected for 2023/24 Olympic World Class Programme

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25/10/2023 00:00, In Blog / Club Notice Board /

Four Welsh athletes have been nominated for membership to join the UK Athletics Olympic World Class Programme (WCP) for 2023/24.

Melissa Courtney-Bryant (coach: Rob Denmark, club: Poole AC) and Jake Heyward (coach: Mark Rowland, club: Cardiff) have received nomination for the Olympic Podium Potential. Whilst Jeremiah Azu (coach: Marco Airale, club: Cardiff) and Joe Brier (coach: Matt Elias, club: Swansea Harriers) have been nominated for the Olympic Relays Programmes.

James Williams, Welsh Athletics CEO shared:

It’s great to see an increase of the number of Welsh Athletes who have been selected for the World Class Programme. A key part of our performance strategy is to support athletes to develop to make the standards required for World Class Programmes. I would like to congratulate all the athletes and coaches; this selection is testament to their hard work and dedication over the past 12 months.”

The Olympic WCP is UK Sport’s National Lottery funded initiative which has the purpose to identify, develop and support talented athletes towards medal success at the Olympic Games and other major Championships.

The WCP is split into several levels reflecting the actual and potential performance development levels of athletes: Podium, Podium Potential, Relay and Confirmation. Athletes are nominated for the WCP to further the aim of UK Athletics to win medals at Paris 2024 or Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Therefore, UKA must be confident that any athlete nominated for the WCP has the realistic potential and demonstrable performance capability and capacity to make the necessary progress to achieve a medal at least in one of the next two Olympic Games. UKA are committed to the principle that winning will always be achieved with integrity and in line with UK Sport’s ambition of ‘Keep Winning and Win Well’.

As per previous years, the nomination for WCP membership is subject to UK Sport ratification and a signed athlete agreement between the athlete and UKA.

All at UK Athletics would like to thank UK Sport and the National Lottery for their continued investment in the World Class Programme. Their support is essential in helping our athletes be the best prepared they can be for the biggest competitions in our sport.

Welsh Athletes selected for 2023/24 Olympic World Class Programme

Olympic Podium Potential

Athlete

Club

Coach

Melissa Courtney-Bryant

Poole AC

Rob Denmark

Jake Heyward

Cardiff

Mark Rowland

 

Olympic Relays

Athlete

Club

Coach

Jeremiah Azu

Cardiff

Marco Airale

Joe Brier

Swansea Harriers

Matt Elias