On Tuesday evening, the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community came together to celebrate the incredible contributions of individuals, teams, and sportspeople from 2024 at the PLx Awards. The annual event was hosted in Manchester, where eight award winners from the sector across Olympic and Paralympic sports were celebrated by their peers.
The 6th edition of the PLx Awards, powered by The National Lottery, features eight awards including a new award, Pathway Coach of the Year. The Awards are part of PLx, the annual conference for leaders from the high-performance community to connect, collaborate and learn. The 2024 PLx awards were hosted by UK Sport Chair Dame Katherine Grainger and Paris Paralympic medallist Blaine Hunt, who took silver for Great Britain in the C4-5 1000m time trial.
Full list of winners:
Innovation Award
This award recognises and celebrates an original innovation that has had a significant impact on a high-performance sport in the last year.
Fiona Johnson (UKSI), Vic Downie (UKSI), Olly Logan (Aquatics GB), Erin Foster (Aura Lingerie), Ben DeSantis (Aura Lingerie), Tim Jones (Aquatics GB), Pete Ambrose (BOA) for their work on garments for the Diving team.
Aquatics GB conducted a major research project into performance clothing, working with garment specialists Aura Lingerie and the divers themselves. The results were bespoke suit and trunk garments for Paris 2024, which GB divers found enhanced their performances.
Fiona Johnson from UKSI said; “I am delighted about this win, which was really driven by the female athlete heath program at UKSI and Aquatics GB. I am really proud of how the teams came together as many parties were involved in a very short period of time. Our motivation was responding to what the divers wanted us to do, which really enabled us to make this project happen and to change the way we think about diving garments.”
Olly Logan from Aquatics GB said; “Pairs was the best ever diving performance! When working on this project, we were conscious that suits shouldn’t be a distraction, which it has previously had been for athletes. It was about tackling comfort and fit issues, and the project was really impactful from the athlete’s input. We wanted them to feel pride and comfort in their garments. We were in a situation where we produced bespoke fits for the athletes. They kept coming back to us to say we looked the best at the games, which was brilliant for their confidence when performing.”
Collaboration & Teamwork Award
This award recognises a team that has collaborated or worked together to deliver a significant impact, improving high-performance in their field.
British Triathlon – Adam Elliott, Laura Needham, Oli Freeman, Hannah Brookes, Phil Clayton, Emma Moscrop, George Robinson, Matt Croyle and Ben Bright.
British Triathlon created a team to ensure Alex Yee’s performance in Paris could be the best to win gold. The focus was on helping Alex improve his swimming, his weakest discipline and no stone was left unturned by the support team, embedding psychology at the heart of it all.
Adam Elliot, Alex Yee’s coach said; “It was not the most enjoyable race to watch! We were all driven by Alex; we looked at Paris a long way out and asked what he needed and who could do it? Part of the strength of this team is knowing what we don’t know as well as what we do know, and being able to ask who can do this better than we can, and then finding those people. Great to have been able to pull in those from across the system, like Emma from Aquatics GB and the brilliant swimming coach of Phil Clayton.”
Support Staff Award
This award recognises the member of staff, from any specialism or role, who has challenged themselves to achieve exceptional and inspiring performances in the last year.
Dawn Peart – Aquatics GB
Dawn has been Aquatics GB’s senior team manager for swimming for 15 years and has made a remarkable impact on the swimming community in that time. She has consistently delivered support, encouragement and structure for multiple generations of athletes and contributed to their success on the world stage.
Dawn said; “Paris was my fifth Olympic Games, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the support of all the volunteer team managers who work across aquatics, service diving, para swimming, open water swimming, and all the pathway events that we’ve run during the year. This is a very special moment, and I would like to thank UK Sport for having this award as a category. To my colleagues who I’ve worked with over the last 30 years in the sport, those who work in all of those sports, behind, alongside and in front of the teams, because, without that support, the teams probably wouldn’t have achieved it without them. A big shout-out to all of you who are working behind the scenes. It’s all about collaboration. It’s not just one person.”
Coach Award
This award recognises a current coach who has challenged themselves to achieve exceptional and inspiring performances in the last year.
Ian Johns – GB Judo, VI Lead
Ian co-founded the GB Judo Paralympic Potential programme, which saw five new athletes transition onto the world stage in 2024. As coach over many years to Dan Powell and Chris Skelley, who won Paralympic silver and bronze in Paris. Ian has gone above and beyond to inspire these judokas, their team mates Jack Hodgson and Evan Molloy, and many others to achieve on the world stage.
Ian said on the night; “We have smashed it—all the sports across the Olympic and Paralympics have. We have some of the most fantastic coaches in the world as part of the community. Winning this is ridiculous—I am just a kid from Scunthorpe! I don’t think you can be a coach if you don’t care, and I care a lot. Caring comes in many different ways for the athletes, and it is not just me; my team is fantastic. My boss gambled on me ten years ago, so I feel very lucky to be here.”
Pathway Coach Award
The coach who has developed and delivered a successful pathway programme, for athletes or coaches.
David Aitken – British Curling
David has been the architect of British Curling’s Pathway strategy. He has led the programme as head coach since 2020, producing remarkable gold medals at the world junior and youth levels.
David said; “The most rewarding thing is finding ways to give opportunities to the people you’re working with. My approach has been about transitioning from youth into the Olympic program. Finding ways to transition athletes from that and connect them to the main program has been key. My approach has been to instil the values that will be useful for these young athletes. The values of hard work, resilience, teamwork, and communication are really useful skills for progressing in the sport, but also progressing out with the sport, which is quite essential and so much more than in the sport.”
Athlete Breakthrough Award
This award recognises the athlete who has had the biggest performance turnaround or breakthrough in the last year.
Amber Rutter – British shooting, Paris Olympic silver medallist
After the heartbreak of not being able to make it to the Tokyo Games due to COVID-19, Amber’s journey to Paris was one of overcoming adversity and resilience. The incredible support from her family, coaching team, British Shooting’s performance support team and the UKSI Female Athlete Support Clinic all played a key part in her Paris success. She became Britain’s first-ever female Olympic shooting medallist, winning skeet silver in a very close-fought Olympic final just three months after giving birth to her son, Tommy.
Amber said; “There was a point after Tokyo when I caught COVID just before I was about to leave and I thought that was it. I was ready to quit the sport and didn’t see a future. Then, I got to experience Paris with my son. Every parent can relate, is that you find your new purpose. And for me, that was him.
I have to give a massive shout-out to my team. When I first told them I was pregnant, I think their hearts all dropped and went, ‘What are we going to do?’ But the fact that they stuck with me through those times and offered me support was incredible.
“A massive shout out to the British Shooting team and my family, who have been a massive part of my journey. This is a real team medal. I just can’t thank you enough for the support I’ve received. To get me back here is incredible. The moment I turned around and saw my son, my husband, and my little family, it just put into perspective that that is the most important thing in life. Sport is only a small portion of who you are. I do care a huge amount about my sport, but there’s so much more to life. Tommy is the true example of the real meaning of everything, like everything is for him now.”
Social Impact Award
This award recognises a sport, member of staff or athlete who has harnessed the power of their platform to contribute towards societal change.
Cindy Ngamba – Refugee Olympic Team, bronze medalist in boxing
Cindy made history by becoming the first IOC Refugee Olympic Team athlete to win an Olympic medal. In the Paris 2024 boxing competition, Cindy won bronze in the 75kg category after a tight semi-final bout. Her achievements had not gone unnoticed, with the IOC President stating that her medal was for the most special of the Games. Since returning from Paris, Cindy has supported many local events at her boxing club in Bolton and has used her new-found prominence to promote the Refugee Olympic Team.
Cindy said; “I just want to thank GB Boxing very much from the bottom of my heart. They took me in with open arms when I arrived three and a half years ago. They never treated me differently as a refugee but as a team mate. I’ve been giving back to the community in my town, Bolton. I try to give back by motivating the next generation as well as the whole community. To show them I was like them, I went to your youth club, where I started boxing. I am from their town, and if I can achieve what I’ve achieved, then they could be the next, the next person like me, or even better.”
Spirit of high-performance sport
This award recognises a sport, member of staff, athlete or team that has risen to a challenge and done so in a way that embodies, what you interpret to be ‘the spirit of high-performance.
Sam Dickinson – British Triathlon
Sam went to the Paris Olympics as a relay specialist and supported Alex Yee in winning an individual gold medal. He was directed to ride for Alex in the individual race, tracking any attacks and threats from other riders. He was asked not to finish the individual race as it might hamper his ability to perform in the relay. It was tough to ask him to put the team ahead of himself in a very public way, which is exactly what Sam did. He recorded a DNF, having stepped out a short way into the 10k run. This epitomises the ‘team before self’ mantra, which is critical in team events in high-performance sports. Sam then became part of the incredible bronze medal-winning mixed triathlon team.
Sam said; “The Olympics is a dream for many people, and for most, it remains a dream. But for me, it came true. It was a super tough decision to take, but I will say two things: Alex is a high-calibre athlete. He already won his team of an award tonight! And even better than that, he’s a top lad too. And I would do it every other week and twice on Sundays for him.
“It was just one task at a time, and I needed to show the team that I was all in for the relay. Being part of the relay team was amazing because it was a team of world-class athletes and me. It was just amazing to be able to contribute in that way. There are many people beyond the athletes we see on that relay team, but I get to be at the heart of it, which is a privileged position. I work with some working-class coaches, support staff, and athletes.”
