Development and Performance

The Welsh Athletics support programme is delivered in partnership with Sport Wales and has three levels, plus an Associate Athlete category.

Find out more about the

• Welsh Athletics National Development Programme 
• Progression Pathway 

Commonwealth Games Athlete

• supports senior athletes who are likely to represent Wales at the next Commonwealth Games with a probability of winning a medal or achieving a top-8 finish. These athletes are also likely to be GB internationals challenging for Olympic places.

Commonwealth Games Potential

• supports a range of senior athletes from those who will be challenging for Commonwealth Games selection, to those on the cusp of making finals and challenging for medals.

Welsh Futures Programme

• provides non-financial support to athletes in the 17-22 age bracket who have a possibility of making the Welsh team at the next Commonwealth Games and the potential to win a medal or achieve a top-8 finish at future Commonwealth Games. All those supported at the Talent Development level, will be considered for nomination for funding through Welsh Sports Aid.

Associate Athlete

• the category of Associate Athlete has been introduced to support experienced individual athletes with ambitions of qualifying to compete at major championships in the next two years.

Each athlete in receipt of support is required to sign an athlete agreement that includes the expectations of them as a supported athlete and also what they can access from Welsh Athletics. Support is reviewed annually, and a parallel programme to assist coaches in their development is also in place. Para-athlete support is controlled and distributed by Disability Sport Wales. The support programme is overseen by Adrian Palmer.

Whilst the support on offer is individualised to each athlete’s needs and support level, some of the benefits may include;

1. Medical support, to include; access to a Sports Physician, Physiotherapist and Massage Therapist
2. Sports science support, to include; access to a Nutritionist, Physiologist and Psychologist
3. Access to a Strength and Conditioning Coach
4. Performance advice
5. Coach support
6. Warm weather training grants
7. International competition support
8. Facility access at selected training venues
9. An athlete support grant

Each athlete is also assigned a specific point of contact within the Welsh Athletics performance team.  These contacts are available to assist coach-athlete pairs with such things as;

1. Review/assembly of competition programmes
2. Review/construction of training programmes
3. Identification and sourcing of support networks
4. Facilitation of annual review processes
5. Facilitation of annual planning and goal setting

Selection for the programme is based around meeting agree performance standards outlined in the Tolerance Tables below.