Flint’s golden girl Jade Jones to compete for sporting legend glory at 25th birthday national lottery awards

Flint’s golden girl, Jade Jones is one of twelve top UK athletes competing for public votes after reaching the finals of this year’s 25th Birthday National Lottery Awards – the annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded athlete and projects.

The Sporting Legend category in the Awards provides a golden opportunity to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the UK’s world class National Lottery funded athletes, whilst demonstrating the impact that National Lottery players have had on elite sport since 1997.

Jade Jones, was the first British athlete to become an Olympic Taekwondo Champion when she took gold at London 2012 at the age of 19 – a performance which earned her an MBE.

She repeated that remarkable feat and became double Olympic champion at the age of 23 when she secured another Gold at Rio 2016. 

The National Lottery has funded Jade Jones throughout her career and has assisted her preparations in the build-up for both the 2012 and the 2016 Olympics and now in the run up to Tokyo 2020.

She is one of over 1,000 elite athletes in the UK funded by the National Lottery, allowing her to train full time to reach her full potential.  

Double Olympic Champion, Jade Jones, said: “I’m thrilled to be a Sporting Legend finalist in the 25^th Birthday National Lottery Awards. Inspiring the next generation and giving young people opportunities from an early age is so important.

The National Lottery has supported thousands of athletes like myself throughout our careers and has helped us to secure podium places at the highest level.

I always had the desire, commitment, vision and support to succeed but National Lottery funding allowed me to compete and train full time and access world-class facilities and training programmes which give you that extra edge in competitive sport.”

Urging the public to get voting for their Sporting Legend, Sport Wales CEO, Sarah Powell, said: “Over the past 25 years the National Lottery has made an enormous difference to sport in Wales. 

The most visible effect is perhaps with our elite athletes, who we see winning medals at Olympics and Commonwealth Games, doing incredible feats of sporting endeavour, and showcasing the passion and pride of Wales on the world stage.

National Lottery funding has enabled them to train more effectively, access world-class medical and psychological support, and through this, make huge improvements to their performance. 

In addition, structures have been put in place to ensure that the next generation of stars have pathways through their sport to enable them to thrive within sport and outside it.”

To date over 4,500 elite athletes have benefitted from National Lottery funding, enabling them to have access to some of the best coaching, facilities and support staff in the world. Since 1997, our athletes have won 860 Olympic and Paralympic medals.

The finalists were selected by the judging panel for their sporting achievements, passion for their sport and ability to inspire others.

The shortlisted athletes are:

Jade Jones – Taekwondo

Chris Hoy – Cycling

David Weir – Wheelchair Athletics

Katherine Grainger – Rowing

Kelly Holmes – Athletics

Nicola Adams – Boxing

Sarah Storey – Paralympic Swimming & Paralympic cycling

Tanni Grey-Thompson – Wheelchair Athletics

Kelly Gallagher – Skiing

Mo Farah – Athletics

Steve Redgrave – Rowing

Ben Ainslie – Sailing

The public vote will decide which athlete is crowned champion at a star-studded glitzy awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday 19 November.

To vote go to lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter: hashtag #NLAwards. Public voting will run until midnight on Wednesday 21 August.