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21 July 2021

Former performance athletes set to represent Great Britain at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

King's Sport

Three former King’s Sport Performance Athletes & Alumni represent Great Britain at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Imani, Dina, Laviai in team GB kit
Left to right: Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith, Laviai Nielsen

Former King’s Sport Performance Athletes & Alumni represent Great Britain at the greatly anticipated Tokyo 2020 Olympics this month. All three athletes qualified to represent the GB athletics team at the Muller British Athletics Championships in June.

 

Dina Asher-Smith
Dina Asher-Smith

Britain’s fastest woman and King’s History graduate Dina Asher-Smith has been nominated for the women’s 100m, 200m races and the 4x100m relay.

For the 4x100m relay, Dina will be joined by Imani-Lara Lansiquot a recent psychology graduate and 100m British Athletics 2020 Champion.

Geography graduate Laviai Nielsen qualified for the 4x400 relay, where she’ll be joined by the likes of Jessie Knight and Jodie Williams.

During their time at King’s all three individuals were a part of the King’s Sport Performance programme. We wish the best of luck to them all during their journey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

Imani-Lara Lansiquot
Imani-Lara Lansiquot

The King’s Sport Performance Programme provides elite student-athletes with a support network to help them perform to the highest level possible in their dual-career.

Through strength & conditioning, nutrition, physiotherapy, lifestyle and wellbeing support we aim to offer students a world-class environment to improve athletically alongside their world-class education.

We strive to empower all our student-athletes to be the authors of their own stories, express themselves and share their triumphs with the wider university community.

The King's Sport Performance Programme is great. It provides invaluable support, whether that's financially, giving you access to performance facilities, or just helping and being someone to talk to. Many universities would benefit from having a programme like we do at King's.

Dina Asher-Smith

Kings College London is leading the way with supporting talented athletes in education in England, having been one of the first institutions to gain TASS dual-career accreditation. 

The Sport England-backed programme supports young sportspeople on the talent pathway to have the opportunity to gain qualifications alongside their sporting pursuits and follow other interests and personal development.

By formally recognising an institution’s commitment to supporting student-athletes, the TASS Dual Career Accreditation Scheme aims to allow athletes to reach their potential in education alongside achieving success in their sport.

The programme brings together other areas of professional services at King’s such as the Careers & Employability team to create a synergy between education and a culture of empowerment and personal development through sport.

Laviai Nielsen
Laviai Nielsen

To support British elite, King’s Sport has also strengthened its partnership with the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), becoming one of its delivery sites. As an accredited TASS Delivery Site (TDS) for athletes already, this new element of the partnership will mean that services will not just be available to King’s students, but for any athlete in and around London wishing to use the training and support facilities offered by King’s Sport.

Being one of 34 education institutions with TASS TDS status, King’s Sport is part of a national network which not only benefits elite athletes but also King’s Sport staff who have access to development opportunities in their particular practitioner area of expertise.

The King’s Sport Performance Programme is one of the main reasons I came to King’s. When you’re juggling a commitment as huge as a sport, it’s so valuable to know that the university can be flexible around that. My athletics career has excelled so much since I started university, and having that support there has really contributed to that. As a gold-level athlete, the financial help I can access is also great for helping out with all the expenses, especially in my Olympic year.

Imani-Lara Lansiquot

Applications for the 21/22 Performance Athlete programme will open from 26th July 2021. 

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Laura 1000x1000

Performance & Workforce Manager

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