SPORT scholarship grants totalling £6,000 were handed out to the county’s most talented young athletes last night.

A ceremony took place at County Hall in Trowbridge where 12 sporting prospects received grants from Wiltshire Council to help them achieve their potential.
 

Winners on the night were:

• Eirlys Jones, under 9 British rhythmic gymnastics champion from Malmesbury
• Josh Jones, under 16 number 1 British cycling champion from Corsham
• Harriet Hillman, under 10 world and European Biathle champion from Cricklade
• Edward Nightingale, under 14 national canoeing champion from Trowbridge
• Oni Tawio, south west under 14 50m freestyle swimmer from Salisbury
• Katie Ovenden, under 13 Wiltshire badminton champion from Salisbury
• Jamie Phillips, BMX racer from Chippenham
• Rory Howarth, Wiltshire 1500m champion from Trowbridge
• Elliot Lassiter, triathlete from Marlborough
• Jessica Daykin gymnast from Market Lavington
• Amelia Bissett, who plays tennis from Devizes
 

The grant of £500 is available to any Wiltshire athlete aged between eight - 18 competing at a regional or national level in any Olympic or Paralympic sport, or any sport recognised by Sport England.

Since launching this programme a wealth of sporting talent in Wiltshire has been funded and this year was no exception.

An unprecedented 33 applications were received from athletes across the county representing a range of sports including cycling, swimming, gymnastics, triathlon, athletics, badminton, football, squash, bowls, canoeing, tennis, squash and judo.

Leader of Wiltshire Council, Baroness Jane Scott, said: “Last year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Rio highlighted what a successful sporting county Wiltshire is and we want to continue to build on that success.

“We are committed to supporting our rising sports stars and we know that these grants make a huge difference helping with their development and providing much needed financial support for competitions, events and training camps.

“I would like to congratulate them all on receiving their grants and we look forward to following their progress.”

Team GB canoeist and world champion Hannah Brown was a special guest on the evening and gave a speech on how she battled serious injury to rise to the top of her sport.