WIREDGOV

Backing the Best workshop shines light on the life of an elite athlete as support for new wave of talented young athletes announced.

“Originally athletics was just a hobby for me,” says Souleyman Bah.

“But when I started competing seriously, I realised there were so many more costs involved.”

Being a talented athlete can be expensive. Families now have to find an average of over £6,000 a year to be able to fund their child's sporting ambitions.

For a lot of young athletes and their families, the financial challenge can often be too much to overcome – and the rising cost has led to some of England’s top up-and-coming talent dropping out of sport altogether.

Backing the Best is looking to change that.

Meeting The Challenge

The National Lottery-funded programme, which is managed by SportsAidOpen in a new window for Sport England, is now in its second year and is helping young athletes on the road to realising their sporting potential.

Young athletes that are put forward by their national governing body receive an award of £5,000 that goes towards essential costs, such as travel, accommodation, kit, nutrition and medical bills.

Souleyman – a sprinter for Great Britain – is one of 95 up-and-coming stars now able to meet the financial challenge of performance-level sport thanks to this support.

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