News

06/12/2019 00:00, In Blog /

Twenty rising stars named on Commonwealth Games Futures programme for support in 2020, the key vehicle for developing the next generation of Commonwealth Athletes. The overall selection includes 41 athletes – a mix of experienced senior athletes like Osian Jones, Sam Gordon, Jenny Nesbitt and Charlotte Arter, and a large cohort of 20 developing athletes, reflecting our stated ambition to maximise the number of athletes delivering their best performances at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and 2026. Dewi Griffiths, Melissa Courtney, Jeremiah Azu & James Tomlinson are all on British Athletics programmes.

One of the rising stars included is Cardiff Athletics’ Lauren Evans (Coach Matt Wood) who broke into the UK top 10 Heptathlon U20 rankings in 2019:

“I had support last year and found it really helpful, funding for competition entries and then the physio support was great – training for 7 events, 6 times a week is tough! - getting a massage and having the peace of mind that the support is there if you get a niggle helps so much. I’m hoping to break 5000 points this year, with the Home Countries International my main target in August, with some indoor competitions before that as stepping stones.”

Over the past 12 months, Welsh Athletics has been working hard to clarify the offer to our young developing athletes, making sure our ‘Commonwealth Games Futures’ standards are aligned to the equivalent programme at British Athletics level. The hope is that more Welsh Athletes will transition onto their World-Class performance programme in the years to come.

“All the physio, nutrition, strength & Conditioning, and psych support we get is so invaluable, and can be underrated. This, the training camps, and the financial contribution all come together to make such a difference. It helps ensure you can train, recover well and stay injury free meaning you get those marginal gains that can turn a top 10 performance into a top 5, which can be the difference between making a British team or not.”

Jenny Nesbitt, Wales & GB Endurance athlete

“Our programme offers layers of support, both from our own coaches and expert staff, and from specialist colleagues in Sport Wales, that look to raise the bar. We’re looking for an honesty in our approach.  We want to identify and convert more of our top athletes not just into Commonwealth Games athletes, but also increase Welsh representation in GB teams at European level and stretch ourselves to produce Welsh Olympians.” Said National Coach, Chris Jones

As part of our new strategic vision for Athletics in Wales, we have a goal to INSPIRE by DEVELOPING A NATION OF CHAMPIONS WHO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION. Part of meeting this goal includes:

• Ensuring Wales is represented at every Global and European Championships
• Increasing the number of top 6 performances at the Commonwealth Games

More details about the different levels in the Athlete Support Programme are available here

Full list of Supported Athletes 2020: