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Lucy Garner Wins Prestigious ‘Taut 100' Award

Story posted November 18; Sir Matthew Pinsent Selects Track Cyclist For Sports Award

Young cyclist Lucy Garner from Leicester, has scooped £1,000.00 as the winner of a prestigious ‘Taut 100’ Award, 2009. The Taut 100 is a nationwide programme sponsored by the sports drink Taut and run in conjunction with SportsAid. Quadruple Olympic Gold Medallist rower Sir Matthew Pinsent helped select Lucy from a short list of 100 young athletes across the country in recognition of her dedication, enthusiasm and sheer commitment to her sport.

Lucy Garner -- a champion in many cycling disciplines such as Cyclo-Cross, Road and Track....

The programme recognises young athletes who have shown extraordinary levels of excellence, passion and natural talent in their chosen sport – drawn from 60 Summer Olympic, 20 Winter Olympic and 20 non-Olympic disciplines. The most notable previous winner of a Taut 100 Award (in 2006) was the recently crowned World Champion, Britain’s youngest ever Olympian and 2012 medal hopeful, the 15 year old diver, Tom Daley. 

Tom said:  "Winning the Taut 100 was a massive boost and it certainly helped me get to Beijing last year. I'm sure it’ll also be a big help for people like Lucy who’re determined to succeed in their chosen sport.” Lucy, who is the current Under 14 National Track Champion, impressed the judges by her ambition and determination to succeed. As well as winning two gold medals at the 2009 UK School Games, Lucy is also a member of the Olympic Talent Team and is hoping to improve her sprint ability even further over the forthcoming year.

Sir Matthew commented “Lucy has been selected to compete at each stage of the performance pathway which shows she has achieved a consistently high level of performance. Her natural talent and potential has been recognized by Taut and as such she was nominated for a 2009 award.”

As well as prize money of £1,000.00 and a supply of Taut, Lucy is now also in with a chance of becoming the overall winner of the 2009 Taut 100 programme, where the top prize is £5,000.00 and will be announced early in 2010.

Hannah Barnes with countless national titles to her name is determined to represent her country

Lucy joins friend and fellow future star Hannah Barnes on the list of 2009 Finalists. Last August, Towcester talent Hannah Barnes shattered a British record dating back almost 20 years with her ride at the National 10-mile Time Trial Championships. The 15-year-old Sponne School student clocked 22 min 43 sec to secure the Bronze medal in the junior women's field and beat the under-16 juvenile record, set by Danielle Davies way back in 1989, by no less than 40 seconds. Barnes rides for Pinarello Cycling team and has been part of the Talent Team since 2007. She is a physically exceptional athlete having won many events against riders in the older age categories.

For further information regarding the Taut 100, visit www.taut-sport.com.