02 June 2008

In a new innovative UK Athletics project, six young athletes who have their heads screwed on and their sights set on the podium will document their summer season and on going efforts to find balance between life and athletics as they progress towards the podium.

The project, sponsored by Original Source, is designed to give the athletes an outlet to discuss the challenges they face, experiences they have and give the public a first hand account of what it is like to be a young up-and-coming athlete in the UK.

Jordan McGrath (Birchfield Harriers), a 400m runner, was chosen after showing incredible promise when he came fourth at the World Youths in Ostrava in the Czech Republic last year, while Jessica Leach (Birchfield Harriers), a twenty year old high jumper who missed most of the 2007 season due to injury, secured her come back this year by winning the Indoor City Challenge final. She has also been working with top coach Fuzz Ahmed, who also coaches Great Britain International hepathlete Kelly Sotherton, at Birmingham’s High Performance Athletics Centre.

Endurance runners Ross Murray (Gateshead Harriers) and Abdirisak Ahmed (Rotherham Harriers AC) were chosen for their exceptional potential after they finished first and third respectively in the under 17 UKA Power of Ten for the 3000m in 2007.

Laura Weightman (Morpeth Harriers & AC) came fourth at the 2008 Flora Mini London marathon and finished fourth in the country in the under 17 1500m rankings. Niall Flannery (Gateshead Harriers ) was the number one 400mh athlete in Britain last year for his under 17 age group, winning various titles in that discipline at regional level as well as the national UK School Games title.  

Andrea Thompson, Original Source UK Athletics Project Manager, said; “The athletes’ passion for athletics was clear when we were selecting the young athletes for the programme. The group all follow a strict, rigorous training programmes, which demonstrate incredible dedication to the sport.

“We are delighted to be supporting these young athletes through our sponsorship of UK Athletics and the 2008 Hero scheme, which enables us to nurture Britain’s athletic stars of tomorrow”.