Athlete Information:
Name: Adele Nicoll
Age: 20
Sport: Athletics
Course: Sport and Exercise Science
Year of study: 2
Athlete Profile
I started athletics when I was 9 years old as a multi-eventer. I continued to do multi events for 5 years, winning a number of championship titles and obtaining welsh records across most of the events. As I got older it was obvious that my strengths lay within the power events and in 2012 I decided to specialise in throwing; shot put and discus. Since then I have become British champion 11 times, made the 2013 World Youth Championships final and the 2015 European Junior Championships Final; whilst competing for Wales and Great Britain. I hold the under 18 British shot put record and In 2013 I won the welsh BBC Junior Sports Personality of the Year award. Last season I finished 1st in the Senior welsh rankings, 1st in the under 20 UK rankings and 4th in the Senior UK rankings. Currently I am ranked number 1 in the UK under 23 age group, 2nd in the Senior UK age group and 1st in the Senior Welsh rankings for 2016. I aim to be competing for Wales in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and hopefully be a part of team GB in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Achievements since joining Cardiff Met include:
Welsh Athletics Senior Indoor Shot Put Champion
BUCS Shot Put Indoor Champion
Senior British Athletics Championships – Bronze Medal
BUCS Shot Put Outdoor Champion – achieving 16.08 – over 16m for the first time
BUCS Discus Silver Medal Position
Loughborough International – 2nd in Match competition
What difference has the scholarship made
The scholarship has helped me massively with regards to travel expenses, equipment and being able to afford the correct supplementation and nutrition to enhance my performance. I used some of my scholarship money to purchase the Athletics Membership, which saved me about £150. I find the free use of the leisure facilities a massive help as sometimes I have pool recovery sessions or bike sessions that I wouldn't be able to do without the fitness membership; as an athlete recovery is extremely important. Recently I have been advised to start Pilates to help with general body conditioning and this is one of the classes offered at the university, which through the scholarship scheme I get for free. I chose the £20 a week catering allowance because this gives me a chance to grab some food quickly on the go if I have a demanding timetable of lectures and training. I have found this very useful as I can use it to buy things such as milk, fruit and sports drinks; saving myself money that I would normally have to spend on these products daily.
