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Nurturing tomorrow's Olympians
The first five young sportsmen and women to benefit from a multimillion pound scholarship scheme designed to produce gold for Britain at the 2012 Olympics were announced in April 2005.
The lucky winners of this golden opportunity – a diver, a judo player, a modern pentathlete, a skater and a swimmer – are all aged between 10 and 16. Along with more than 100 others, they will get financial aid to make their dreams, and the country's, come true.
The 2012 Scholarships aim to bridge the gap between school and junior club programmes and existing support for elite athletes. The money will be used to provide access to high-quality training facilities in the UK and overseas, coaching and access to medical advice and sports psychologists.
The support will be available for young athletes from summer and winter Olympic sports, as well as competitors in the Paralympics. The scheme builds on the success of the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), which is intended to help older competitors, at university or in first jobs.
The first five to receive 2012 grants of up to £10,000 a year are:
- Jean-Rene Badrick, a 15-year-old judo player from East Finchley in London
- Thomas Daley, a 10-year-old diver from Plymouth, who last year became British under-18 champion
- Charlotte Gilmartin, 15, already a European age group champion in short-track speed-skating, from Redditch in Worcestershire
- Montana Jones, a 16-year-old modern pentathlete from Woking in Surrey
- Rachel Latham, 15, a disabled swimmer from Wigan in Lancashire
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