BTF joins forces with Dame Kelly
With only 1,000 days to go until the start of London 2012, 60 talented young athletes including British Triathlon’s Olympic Talent Squad took part in a two-day event led by Olympic Champ Dame Kelly Holmes.
As the countdown to 2012 began in earnest last week with only 1000 days to go until the start of London 2012, 60 talented young athletes – including British Triathlon’s Olympic Talent Squad – took part in a two-day event led by Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes.
Dame Kelly Holmes, who is chair of her charity the DKH Legacy Trust, was hosting the two-day event in Manchester as part of the BT Backing Talent initiative. The programme gave ‘up and coming’ stars of the future the chance to find out what it takes to succeed in elite sport.
The British Triathlon Olympic Talent Squad funded by UK Sport and Sport England attended the event in Manchester, taking part in a series of challenging workshops and practical activities including how to attract sponsorship, dealing with the media and learning effective training techniques required to make it to the top.
Elinor Thorogood, a member of the British Triathlon Olympic Talent Squad said, “Something I really struggle with when I compete is my confidence. After speaking to Dame Kelly today and learning about different ways to both physically and mentally approach triathlon I’m sure that I will became a better athlete”
As well as Dame Kelly, the young people were also working with other Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Medallists like Sarah Stevenson Olympic Bronze Medallist (Taekwondo ) Beijing, Bryan Steele, Olympic Silver Medallist (Cycling) and current members of the England Rugby League Team . All of these top athletes in their field worked with the young sporting talent helping them to understand what it really takes to become a world class performer.
Simon Mills, Performance Development Manager for British Triathlon said: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to work with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust at the BT Backing Talent event in Manchester this week.
“Our young performers, members of the British Triathlon Olympic Talent Squad, enjoyed working with the team of world class performers who helped them understand what it takes to reach the top in elite sport”.
Dame Kelly Holmes said: “Never mind Britain’s Got Talent, last week it was Manchester’s got Talent! There are so many promising young performers in this region and it is fantastic to be able, through the BT Backing Talent programme, with other elite sports performers, to pass on our skills and experience to the up and coming stars of the future like Elinor and the rest of the Young Olympic hopefuls from British Triathlon Federation.”
For more on the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, visit the website www.dkhlegacytrust.org
Matt Baird
Editor of Cycling Plus magazine 
