Wiltshire Council: It’s time to Ask the Athlete

EVER wanted to ask an elite athlete a question? What’s it like to compete for your country or how did it feel to win an Olympic or Paralympic medal?

Wiltshire Council’s sports development team has launched a weekly series of ‘Ask the Athlete’ videos that feature on the Active Wiltshire social media platforms.

The feature gives people an opportunity to send in questions to their favourite local sporting stars as well as seeing them participate in interactive challenges – will the athletes be able to rise to the challenge they are set?

Athletes will also promote other resources developed by Wiltshire Council in response to COVID-19. These resources include opportunities for residents to be active, to undertake virtual museum tours, library resources and opportunities to get involved in reading activities, as well as information on digital learning and home schooling and downloadable activity packs. All of these resources are available on a new Active Communities webpage developed by Wiltshire Council, which is available at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisure-active-communities

Each Friday Wiltshire Council will announce the next elite athlete on the Active Wiltshire Facebook page. Residents will then have until the following Monday to submit their questions on Facebook, Twitter or via email, with the video broadcast on Thursday each week.

The first Wiltshire athlete who took part was Trowbridge’s Francesca Fox. Rhythmic gymnast Francesca is a former British Champion, a medalist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and competed for Team GB at the 2012 London Olympics. Francesca was one of the council’s first Funding Future Olympians and Paralympians grant recipients.

The other athletes in the series will include, Olympic skeleton bob silver medalist Shelley Rudman and Paralympic gold medalist Jennifer Kehoe MBE, as well as 2020 grant recipients and Tokyo 2021 hopefuls Tom Gale and Dan Bethell.

Cllr Allison Bucknell, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Communities, said:  “We are immensely proud of our athletes who not only create a lasting legacy of sporting excellence in Wiltshire but who also inspire the next generation.

“The ‘Ask the Athlete’ campaign is another example of how they continue to inspire the young athletes of the future as well as provide some light-hearted entertainment at this uncertain time.

“So I encourage people to take this opportunity to log in and ask your favourite sports star a question.”

To get involved, submit a question and to see the full schedule of athletes taking part, people should visit the Active Wiltshire Facebook page www.facebook.com/ActiveWiltshire and @Sport4Wiltshire on Twitter.

For further information on Ask the Athlete or to discover more community resources developed to support residents to stay active and connected during the COVID-19 situation, please visit http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisure-active-communities or email sportsdevelopment@wiltshire.gov.uk.