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Athletes awarded Team England scholarship

Team England has selected five young athletes to receive the Sir John Hanson Young Talent Scholarship, designed to help them on their progression towards the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The winners of the scholarship are Abazz Shayaam-Smith (athletics), Abigail Burton (rugby 7s), Kelly Petersen-Pollard (judo), Kieran Rollings (para lawn bowls) and Lucy Turmel (squash).

With Birmingham 2022 in three years’ time, each athlete striving to compete at the Games will receive £10,000, to support them in achieving their sporting goals.

Abazz Shayaam-SmithAbazz is from the West Midlands and is relishing the opportunity of the Games coming so close to home. England under-20 triple jump champion, Abazz trains at the Alexander Stadium where the athletics and ceremonies will be held in 2022 and lives in Walsall. She said: “Receiving this scholarship is a very proud moment for me, and I can’t wait to work with Team England, building my talent towards the Games in Birmingham in three years’ time!"

In a tough competition to win the funding, Team England received over 70 full applications that met the selection criteria and were supported by sporting Governing bodies.

The £50,000 award was made possible by a private donation from former British diplomat Sir John Hanson.