Asda Athletes

2012 has been a fantastic year for British sport, and a fantastic year for Asda Athletes!

Former Asda Athlete Josie Pearson was one of 27 Asda Athletes past and present who competed in London 2012, and we were delighted, and are still proud, that she came away with a Paralympic Gold medal in the Women’s Discus F51-53 event.

Josie was on the Asda Athlete scheme in 2011, which has supported over 1,600 young athletes in pursuing their dreams of becoming medal-winning professionals since its inception in 2008.

During this time, our Athletes have raised over £200,000 through SportsAid grants and fundraising in their partnered stores, which goes towards essential costs like training, equipment and travel. Asda Athletes also receive training from top professionals, and an outlet to promote themselves and their sport through their local stores and online blogs.

Watch Josie’s video to find out why Josie thinks Asda Athletes is a fantastic scheme, and why she felt the support she received was vital to her success. She also tells us how it feels to be a gold medal winning athlete, and shares her advice to aspiring athletes of the future.

Congratulations to Asda Athlete alumni Neil Fachie and Josie Pearson for their super human efforts at London 2012.

Neil, who was partnered with Asda Dyce in 2009, stormed to Paralympic Gold and Silver in front of a packed house at the velodrome, having switched sports from athletics after the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

A few days later, Josie wowed British fans in the Olympic Stadium by taking Gold in the F51/52/53 discus competition. Not only did she secure her place on top of the podium, but she also smashed the World Record three times on her way to Gold.

Both athletes had a postbox in their home town painted gold to mark their achievements, and even had their victories immortalised on a stamp by the Royal Mail. Congratulations to them both on their fantastic performances, as well as all our other Asda Athletes who starred in London!

Neil and Josie join former Asda Athlete Peter Chambers in taking home a medal from London 2012. Peter secured Olympic silver in the lightweight men’s four rowing final at Eton Dorney back in August.

With the Olympics coming to its fantastic conclusion at the spectacular Closing Ceremony, we’re now turning our attention to the Asda Athletes, past and present, who will be competing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Competing in London are no fewer than 14 Asda funded athletes, participating in sports ranging from sitting volleyball to boccia, wheelchair fencing and athletics.

CP Footballer Jonathan Paterson will be hoping to build on his first Olympic experience at Beijing 2008 when he takes the field against Brazil in Great Britain’s first group match. Archer Leigh Walmsley, whose partner John is also part of Team GB, will be looking to reach the pinnacle of her short but already hugely successful career with gold in London.

Good luck to the following from everyone at Asda:

Jonathan Paterson (24 yrs old), CP Football, (Motherwell), 2012
Captained the GB football team at Beijing 2008

Leigh Walmsley (43 yrs old), Para-Archery, (Birchwood), 2012
Made her debut with the British team in the Czech Republic where she won a gold medal as part of the women’s Recurve team

Simon Wilson (54 yrs old), Wheelchair Fencing, (Langley Mill) 2012
London 2012 will be Simon’s first Paralympic Games. Selection to Paralympics GB fulfils his greatest sporting ambition as he describes it as the pinnacle of competition

Andrea Green (42 yrs old), Sitting Volleyball, (Sinfin), 2012
Andrea has over 39 GB caps and is described as a go to player (Hitter, Blocker, Passer)

Stephen Osborne (49 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Gravesend), 2012
A keen Wheelchair Rugby fan, Stephen was introduced to Athletics by a friend in 2011 and he was enthusiastic to compete in an individual sport

Gemma Prescott (29 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Westbrook) 2012
Gemma’s career highlight is her performance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where she won the bronze medal in the Shot Putt

Scott McCowan (21 years old), Boccia, (Kilmarnock), 2011
Awarded the title of Scottish National Champion in 2009, 2010, and 2011 and Scottish Open Champion in 2008 and 2011 in Individual competition

Rhys Jones (18 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Tonypandy), 2011
Rhys will make his Games debut at London 2012, competing in the T37 100m and 200m sprints

Josie Pearson (26 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Hereford), 2011
Josie began playing Wheelchair Rugby in 2005 and was the first woman to represent Paralympics GB when she made her Games debut in Beijing in 2008

Jade Jones (16 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Teesport Depot), 2009, 2010 & 2011
Jade was inspired to start racing after meeting Tanni Grey-Thompson

Jacob Thomas (18 yrs old), Boccia, (Pembroke Dock), 2009
After becoming Welsh and British Champion in 2010 he is set to become part of the first British team to compete in the BC3 event since 1996

Roy Turnham (27 yrs old), Blind Football, (Sefton Park), 2009
Roy was originally an 800m runner in the UK Athletics development squad, but has always loved football and began to play competitively with Everton in the National Blind League in 2008

Neil Fachie (28 yrs old), Para Cycling, (Dyce), 2009
Neil made his Paralympic debut on the Athletics track in Beijing, in 2008

Hollie Arnold (18 yrs old), Para Athletics, (Scunthorpe), 2008
Aged 14, Hollie made her Paralympic debut in Beijing where she also represented Great Britain for the first time.

Congratulations to former Asda Athlete Peter Chambers who really did us proud by taking the silver medal in the lightweight men’s four final at Eton Dorney – along with his team mates Chris Bartley, Rob Williams and elder brother Richard Chambers.

The team narrowly missed out on a gold medal victory to South Africa but performed spectacularly throughout the race. When speaking to the BBC after the race Richard said: “We were fighting just to get in contention, to get silver was impressive.”

22 year old Peter first began rowing at the age of 13 after following in his elder brother Richard’s footsteps. He joined Bann Rowing Club and was originally coached by Seamus Reynolds, Henry Bailhache-Webb, Peter Sheppard and most recently Rob Morgan. Peter is currently studying Sports Science at Oxford Brookes University while training hard and is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.

Peter has taken part in many competitions in the past and most recently received a silver medal with the same team members in the first World Cup of the 2012 season and also took second in the lightweight men’s single scull at the 2012 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials.

With the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games now almost upon us, we’re really excited that a number of our athletes, both past and present, have been selected to represent Great Britain this summer. Current Asda Athlete Rachel Smith (pictured above) has even been selected to captain the Great Britain Rhythmic Gymnastics squad. A massive congratulations from us and good luck to the following :

Jade Faulkner (Current Asda Athlete): Rhythmic Gymnastics

Andrea Green (Current Asda Athlete): Sitting Volleyball

Jade Jones (Current Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

Stephen Osborne (Current Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

Jonathan Paterson (Current Asda Athlete): CB Football

Gemma Prescott: (Current Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

Rachel Smith (Current Asda Athlete): Rhythmic Gymnastics

Leigh Walmsley (Current Asda Athlete): Para-Archery

Simon Wilson (Current Asda Athlete): Wheelchair Fencing

Rhys Jones (2011 Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

Scott McCowan (2011 Asda Athlete): Boccia

Ross Murray (2011 Asda Athlete): Athletics

Josie Pearson (2011 Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

Stephanie Houghton (2010 Asda Athlete): Football

Ciaran James (2010 Asda Athletes): Waterpolo

Luke Lennon-Ford (2010 Asda Athletes): Athletics

Savannah Marshall (2010 Asda Athlete): Boxing

Siobhan Marie O’Connor (2009 & 2010 Asda Athlete): Swimming

Peter Chambers (2009 Asda Athlete): Rowing

Neil Fachie (2009 Asda Athlete): Para Cycling

Joseph O’Regan (2009 Asda Athlete): Waterpolo

Zoe Smith (2009 Asda Athlete): Weightlifting

Jacob Thomas (2009 Asda Athlete): Boccia

Roy Turnham (2009 Asda Athlete): Blind Football

Rhys Williams (2009 Asda Athlete): Athletics

Jack Oliver (2008 & 2009 Asda Athlete): Weightlifting

Hollie Arnold (2008 Asda Athlete): Para Athletics

We’ll keep you updated with how they get on as the Olympic Games unfold. If you have any messages of support for our Athlete’s then please leave a comment below.