Saturday night’s British Triathlon Annual Award Dinner saw the presentation of the first Gold Pin Awards, awarded to three of the sport’s leading figures to highlight their significant and long standing contribution to triathlon.
Dick Poole was the holder of the Lands End to John O’Groats cycling record when he became the first British Triathlon Association Chairman following its founding in 1983. He steered the organisation through its early years, holding the position of Secretary General of the newly formed European Triathlon Union and ensured Great Britain was involved with the international developments.
Aleck Hunter started out as the first Secretary General of the British Triathlon Association, helping to ensure the rapid growth of the sport through inspiring newcomers and challenging others to improve and expand on the foundations of the sport.
Simon Lessing MBE dominated the sport throughout the 1990s, accumulating five World Championship titles. Lessing set a high standard to which elite athletes aspire to and he was subsequently appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 2000.
Both Lessing and Poole were awarded their Gold Pins at the Awards Dinner and will receive life membership and a certificate from their Home Nation Association. Hunter was unfortunately unable to attend the dinner and will be presented with his pin at an event next year.
Yorkshire’s Alistair Brownlee took home the prestigious British Olympic Association Athlete of the Year award as well as the Male Elite Triathlete prize following his excellent win at the World Under 23 Championships in June and brave front running at the Olympic Games.
Recently married Helen Jenkins (née Tucker), deservedly won the Female Elite Triathlon of the Year award having fought back from prolonged injury to win the World Championships in Vancouver in June whilst inspiring Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington collected her second successive Female Long Distance Triathlete of the Year Award as she maintained her unbeaten record over the long distance discipline since turning professional at the end of 2006.
British Triathlon Annual Awards:
| BOA Athlete of the Year |
Alistair Brownlee |
|
Male Elite Triathlete of the Year |
Alistair Brownlee |
|
Female Elite Triathlete of the Year |
Helen Jenkins |
|
Male Elite Duathlete of the Year |
Paul Amey |
|
Female Elite Duathlete of the Year |
Catriona Morrison |
|
Male Long Distance Triathlete of the Year |
Stephen Bayliss |
|
Female Long Distance Athlete of the Year |
Chrissie Wellington |
|
Male Age Group Athlete of the Year |
Dion Harrison |
|
Female Age Group Athlete of the Year |
Louise Collins |
|
National Volunteer of the Year |
Kay Wilson, Durham Triathlon Club |
|
National Young Volunteer of the Year |
Alex Teagle, BRAT Triathlon Club |
|
National Official of the Year |
Keith Perry, FVS Triathlon Club |
|
National Coach of the Year |
Chris Hunt, Total Fitness Nottingham |
|
National Event of the Year |
Gower Peninsula Triathlon, Wales |
|
National Club of the Year |
Manchester Triathlon Club |
About British Triathlon
British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK’s fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its development programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 650 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year, including the Corus Elite Series which attracts athletes from all over the world and the renowned Mazda London Triathlon and. For more information visit BritishTriathlon.org.
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