British Athletics has today announced that 32 athletes have been invited to join the 2016-17 British Athletics Futures Programme incorporating Para-Futures.
“Futures”, supported by Nike, is a British Athletics support programme for emerging athletes and their coaches which underpins the World Class Performance Programme (WCPP). The 2016-17 programme runs from 1 December 2016 to 30 November 2017 and will continue British Athletics’ drive towards supporting the next generation of talent with more targeted support for athletes and their coaches.
Included in the selections are IAAF World Junior 10,000m Race Walk champion Callum Wilkinson (coach: Mick Graham – 20km Race Walk), European Youth gold medallists George Mills (Joanne Day – 800m) and Jake Heyward (Paul Darney – 1500m), plus Jake Norris (Paul Dickenson – Hammer) – silver medallist at the same championships.
World Junior finalist Imani Lansiquot (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo – 100m), who is included in the main WCPP as a development athlete on the relay program, Reece Prescod (Tawiah-Dodoo – 200m) and Cameron Tindle (Henry Gray – 200m) all join the programme, with each of the trio earning a spot following strong performances this year in their sprinting disciplines.
Para-Futures is incorporated into the programme and will assist in the development of six athletes for the forthcoming programme year, including 2016 IPC European Championship team members James Hamilton (Mark Kirk – 1500m), Joshua Howard (Keith Hunter – Long Jump) and Amy Wareing (Jim Edwards – F38 Discus), the latter an IWAS World Games champion in both the shot and discus in 2015. Also supported are Luke Sinnott (Roger Keller – T42 Long Jump), Molly Kingsbury (Roger Graham – T37 Long Jump) and IWAS 2015 medallist James Arnott (Ryan Freckleton – T47 100m).
Three athletes graduated from last year’s programme onto WCPP for 2016-17, with David King (James Hillier), Adelle Tracey (Craig Winrow) and Nathan Maguire (Steven Hoskins) now receiving support as Podium Potential medallists. The trio join 41 other Futures graduates who are now supported by the WCPP program.
Olympic and European medallist Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie), who was supported by the programme from 2012–13, said: “The British Athletics Futures programme served as a fantastic means of support for me during my years as a junior.
“It provided me with the perfect pathway heading into my senior career, and I’m very thankful for the support provided through the programme – hopefully the athletes selected for the programme this year can take as much from it as I did.”
Georgie Hermitage (Paul MacGregor), who began competing just three years ago, received support from the programme from 2014-15. The T37 athlete, now Paralympic, World and European champion over 400m, added her thoughts on the programme, saying: ““The British Athletics Futures programme provided me with a significant platform for development. The amount of athletes who have progressed from Futures onto WCPP shows that the programme is a fantastic pathway for athletes who are eager to work hard in the sport.
“The funding provided me with significant medical support during 2015 when I was supported by the programme which definitely contributed to becoming double world champion in 2015.”
The 32 athletes and their coaches supported by the British Athletics Futures Programme (incorporating Para Futures) 2016-2017:
George Armstrong (Zane Duquemin) – Discus, James Arnott (Ryan Freckleton) – T47 100m, Hannah Brier (Steve Fudge) – 100m, Taylor Campbell (John Pearson) – Hammer, Bobby Clay (Rob Denmark) – 1500m, Mollie Courtney (David Warner) – 100m Hurdles, Jonathan Davies (Rob McKim) – 5000m, Niamh Emerson (David Feeney) – Heptathlon, George Evans (Colin McCulloch) – Discus, Tom Gale (Denis Doyle) – High Jump, Imani Lansiquot (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) – 100m, James Hamilton (Mark Kirk) – T20 1500m, Toby Harries (Jon Bigg) – 200m, Jake Heyward (Paul Darney) – 1500m, Josh Howard (Keith Hunter) – T38 Long Jump, Harry Hughes (Michael McNeill) – Javelin, Molly Kingsbury (Roger Graham) – T37 Long Jump, Harriet Knowles-Jones (Paul Roden) – 1500m, Rechmial Miller (Ryan Freckleton) – 100m, George Mills (Joanne Day) – 800m, Jake Norris (Paul Dickenson) – Hammer, Reece Prescod (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) – 200m, Tommy Ramdhan (Ryan Freckleton) – 200m, Luke Sinnott (Roger Keller) – T42 Long Jump, Cameron Tindle (Henry Gray) – 200m, Revee Walcott-Nolan (Matt Yates) – 800m, Abby Ward (Ian Hill) – High Jump, Amy Wareing (Jim Edwards) – F38 Discus, James Weaver (Julie Hollman) – 110m Hurdles, Callum Wilkinson (Mick Graham) – 20km Race Walk, Hannah Williams (Colin Gaynor) – 400m, James Whiteaker (Nigel Whiteaker) – Javelin
