Rio stars recognised at BTF awards
Double Olympic Champion (2012 and 2016) Alistair Brownlee was named Olympic Athlete of the Year and Elite Male Athlete of the Year at the British Triathlon Federation’s annual awards dinner.
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“This year was all about the Olympic Games, so to achieve that goal was fantastic – and this award is just the cherry on the cake,” said Alistair. “It’s the end of a very tough four years and it was always in my head to have a decent bit of time off now.
“I’m not thinking too much into the future, but just enjoying the achievements before I get back to doing what I love in the new year – training.”
Olympic bronze medallist Vicky Holland won The British Triathlon Female Elite Triathlete of the Year Award.
Vicky said: “Being the first female Olympic medallist is amazing. It’s been a long time coming as we have such a rich heritage in women’s triathlon in the UK. Helen (Jenkins) was such a pioneer for me – she won her first world title in 2008 and since then we’ve been waiting for an Olympic medal to come. I’m really delighted to be the person that got it.”
Paralympic gold medallist and ITU World Paratriathlon Champion Andy Lewis was awarded Male Paratriathlete of the Year and the Peter Holmes Award for Inspirational Performance in International Competition, beating Alistair Brownlee in the process.
“I hadn’t even come from backstage after receiving the first award,” Lewis said. “Alistair Brownlee literally grabbed me and said: ‘It’s you, it’s you, go and get it, go and get it!’”
“After winning gold in Rio, I thought ‘what just happened?’ Going into it all with the pressure of being World Champion, I just never expected to come away with a gold. I made a lot of sacrifices to get there – the sort of sacrifices all athletes make in order to get to the top. But I did it for my family. I said before I set out that I wanted to achieve something, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
Read the full interview with Andy Lewis here
Fellow ITU Paratriathlon World Champion and Paralympic silver medallist, Alison Patrick (PT5), was awarded the British Triathlon Female Paratriathlete of the Year award alongside guide, Hazel Macleod (formally Smith).
Alison said: “Hazel and I have worked hard to become such a great team, and it’s down to not worrying when things go wrong and not having a fear of failure. We have to have complete trust in each other.
“Winning silver in Rio was incredible. It was such an amazing atmosphere and knowing that we did it as a team was amazing.”
2016 British Triathlon Awards Winners
Eisberg Female Age Group Triathlete of the Year – Alice Jenkins
Eisberg Male Age Group Triathlete of the Year – Mike Smallwood
Leigh Day & Co. British Triathlon Volunteer of the Year – John Hagemeister
Leigh Day & Co. British Triathlon Official of the Year – Tony Smalley
Leigh Day & Co. British Triathlon Coach of the Year –
British Triathlon Female Elite Duathlete of the Year – Emma Pooley
British Triathlon Male Elite Duathlete of the Year –
British Triathlon Event of the Year – Deva Divas Ladies Triathlon
British Triathlon Female Elite Long Distance Triathlete of the Year – Jodie Swallow
British Triathlon Male Elite Long Distance Triathlete of the Year –Tim Don
British Triathlon Female Elite Junior Triathlete of the Year – Sian Rainsley
British Triathlon Male Elite Junior Triathlete of the Year – Sam Dickinson
British Triathlon Female Paratriathlete of the Year – Alison Patrick and Hazel Macleod (Guide)
British Triathlon Male Paratriathlete of the Year – Andy Lewis
British Triathlon Female Elite Triathlete of the Year – Vicky Holland
British Triathlon Male Elite Triathlete of the Year – Alistair Brownlee MBE