Roseanna attends Athletics NI Youth Academy squad launch

Athletes with identified medal winning potential will gain support and mentoring, along with their personal coach to assist them along the path to success.

The evening ran the theme of a motivational night having inspirational guest speakers along to share their experiences and tips of how to become an elite athlete. This included a Q&A session with Olympian Sycerika McMahon, silver medallist at the European Championships; Olympian Matt McGovern, Performance Planner Sports Institute NI (SINI) and a video link with Alan Campbell, 2012 Olympic Bronze rowing medallist.

After dinner everyone sat down to listen to Athletics NI’s local champion, Michael McKillop. It was a perfect end to an inspirational evening listening to the challenges Michael has over-come in his training career to now be a world record holder in the T37 800m and T37 1500m, winning 2 Gold medals at this year’s London Paralympics.

Michael discussed his methods of focusing before races and how he managed the pressure that was placed on him to win due to being the reigning T37 800m Champion in Beijing. On top of all the achievements Michael made this year on the track he was also given the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award which is given to one male and one female from the Paralympic Games who ‘best exemplify the spirit of the games and inspire and excite the world’.

It was obvious to everyone at the launch why Michael won this award, he is a huge inspiration and is passionate about motivating our younger up and coming Northern Irish talent.

Athletics NI’s Catherine Crawford, Talent Development Coach said “Hopefully listening to our local champions and even getting the opportunity to hold a Gold Paralympic medal has given our athletes the motivation to step up to the next level of their athletics career”.