December 7 - Double world youth champion Jodie Williams (pictured) is among more than 40 young athletes who will be supported by the UK Athletics Futures Programme it was announced today.

 

A total of 42 athletes and their coaches will receive financial support directly from UK Athletics and other services to aid their development.

 

Williams, coached by Mike McFarlane, won an unprecedented sprint double in the World Youth Championships in Bressanone in July, claiming victory in the 100 and 200 metres when still only 15.
 

UK Athletic s strategic head of coaching and development Kevin Tyler said: "An essential part of identifying and nurturing young talent is to ensure they are well supported, both in their general support networks and by making it easy for them to concentrate on working with their coach.
 

"By focusing our resources so that we can also support the coach, we are making sure there is opportunity for both individuals to develop, which is essential in improving performance and coaching standards."

 

Other promising youngsters selected include 2009 European Junior medalists Louis Persent, Kate Avery, Eugene Ayanful and Simon Horsfield.

 

Jo Jennings, UK Athletics development manager, who is coordinating the programme, said: "Selections of athlete-coach pairings was based on a number of factors including past performances and forward planning towards 2010 development in their event.
 
 

"There were some tough decisions but we feel those selected are the best 42 based on their applications - we know that some pairings have taken feedback on board from their applications and are using it to assist with structuring their season ahead and their planning towards future goals."