25 November 2011

16-year-old sprint athlete Sally Brown from Ballykelly has been named the overall winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards 2011.  Paralympic field athlete Nathan Stephens, who was himself an OCS Young Sports Person Awards winner in 2005, presented Sally with her prize.  Speaking of her award, Sally commented: “Making great achievements in my sport has always been a dream and it’s a bit strange now that it’s all coming true!”

Winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards Disability Category for Ireland, Sally beat off stiff competition from ten regional and three other Disability Category winners   to take the overall winner title for 2011.  She will receive £10,000 through the scheme over the next three years.

In her classification (T46), Sally currently holds the No.1 UK ranking for both 100m and 200m, as well as a senior IPC World Ranking of No.4 in 200m and No.7 in 100m.  She took bronze at this year’s Paralympic World Cup event in Manchester, in addition to a gold and silver medal at the World Junior Championships.

Also picking up OCS Young Sports Person Awards from the world of athletics was Jimi Tele (Trevor Wells) for London East and Georgia Peel (Mick Woods) for South East.

17-year-old Jimi is England Athletics U17 Outdoor Champion and currently ranked no.1 for his age group in triple jump, while 16-year-old Georgia, who competes in both 800m and 1500m, plus switching to cross country in the winter months, took gold at the Aviva U20/U23 Championships (inc European Trials) in 1500m this year.

The 2011 OCS Young Sports Person Awards event in conjunction with SportsAid took place on 24th November at the OCS Stand at the Kia Oval in London, hosted by leading BBC sports commentator Clare Balding.  Young sporting stars from across the UK received their award from sporting personalities including David Gower OBE, Rory Underwood MBE, Kate Howey MBE and Iwan Thomas MBE.