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Young Ulster Cyclist Scoops Prestigious Award
Cycling star Sean Downey (17) is the Northern Ireland regional winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Award 2007. This year’s Junior Irish Cycle Cross Champion, Sean picked up a string of under-16 awards last year, including Irish Trial Champion, Irish Mountain Biking Champion and Ulster Road Race Champion. This year Sean has achieved Top Junior in the Tour of the North and won the Armagh to Downpatrick race for senior riders.
The OCS Young Sports Person Awards celebrate sporting achievement and support young athletes across the UK. This year is the tenth anniversary of the scheme, and Sean will be travelling to London to collect his Award at a celebratory event in the OCS Stand at the Brit Oval. Apart from Sean, there will be eight other regional winners, and a disabled winner, each of whom will take home a cheque for £2,500, and a ‘Young Star’, who wins a £500 award.
On the day OCS will announce one overall winner, who will receive a further £10,000-worth of support over three years – with £2,500 of that going to their club or school. Previous OCS Young Sports Person Award winners will be at the event, including Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle and future double Paralympic hopeful Nathan Stephens. Plus many more top sporting stars will be giving their support including Mark Butcher, Iwan Thomas and Alec Stewart.
The young cyclist is following in the footsteps of his father, who rode for Great Britain in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Sean’s father and uncles are keen members of Banbridge Cycling Club, and Sean, who receives no official funding, works in his uncles’ bike shop to pay for his sport. The OCS Award, Sean says, will make a real difference: “It will help me buy a power crank for my bike, a training aid which will really enhance my training for the World Championships and European Championships next year – and the 2012 Olympics of course!”
Sean in action
OCS chief executive Chris Cracknell explains that the property services company’s award recognizes Sean’s outstanding talent and commitment: “OCS, although a large international company, is still a family firm, and we pride ourselves on a decade of searching out talented young athletes who could really benefit from a boost in the early stages of their career. Sean has outstanding potential, and we are delighted to be able to recognise and celebrate that.”
For further information please contact Nikki Richardson at Tulip Media:
01732 454670 / 07780 600061
nikki@tulipmedia.co.uk
To find out more about the OCS Young Sports Person Awards, visit www.ocsyoungsportsperson.co.uk
For further information on OCS, visit
www.ocs.co.uk |
