15th October 2018

ADENEGAN AND BURGIN SHORTLISTED FOR BBC YOUNG SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

Kare Adenegan (club: Coventry Godiva, coach: Job King) and Max Burgin (Halifax Harriers, Brian Burgin) have been shortlisted in the top ten for this year’s BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

The award goes to an outstanding young sportsperson – aged 17 or under on 1 January 2018 – and is awarded by a specially selected panel including representatives from Blue Peter, the Youth Sport Trust and famous faces from the world of sport.

Adenegan has enjoyed a real breakthrough season in the sport, winning her first ever European title in the T34 100m, as well as making history by becoming the first female T34 athlete to go under 17 seconds over the distance, setting one of the stand-out world record of the year.

Competing in British teams since the age of 14, Kare has won medals at Paralympic and world level over the last four years, but in 2018, she showed real improvement to breakthrough on the global scale.

Her performance – a 16.80 clocking – at the Muller Anniversary Games in July prompted sports fans in the UK and around the world to see her potential to be a global champion. Gold and silver at the Europeans a month later, followed.

The second athletics representative, Max Burgin, has produced several devastating displays over 800m this season, winning the European U18 title, and clocking a world age-group best back in May.

His 1:47.50 time at the BMC Grand Prix in Stretford – as a 15-year-old – was a world age-group best and a British U17 record. In that race he beat seven athletes who were older than him, his nearest rival an U23 athlete 0.26 seconds behind the Yorkshire man.

Burgin lowered that time even further on his way to gold in Hungary, setting a British U18 record with his time of 1:47.36.

He added the English U17 title and UK School Games crown to his collection during a stunning season.

The winner is set to be announced at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards on Sunday, 21 October.