Sky Academy Sports Scholarships: Paralympic athlete Olivia Breen aims to inspire through sport
By Sam Drury - Follow on Twitter
Last Updated: 26/03/17 3:26pm
Olivia Breen has reaffirmed her desire to inspire the next generation of young sports-people and is the ideal person to do just that according to her new Sky Sports mentor, Di Dougherty.
The Paralympic bronze medallist also revealed that she was happy with her progress since taking up the long jump this winter but insisted that she will continue to compete in the sprints for the time being too.
This summer will see Breen in the hunt for medals at both the Commonwealth Games and the Europeans Championships, both of which take place in Britain, and is hoping her efforts can help to encourage more young people to take up sport.
“Sport can completely change your life, it’s really fun to do sport, it can be your job so why not get people inspired by it?” enthused Breen. “If you love something then you should keep doing it and enjoy it.”
Game Changers presenter Dougherty agreed and stated her belief that the Sky Academy Sports Scholar can provide the perfect example to follow.
She has a fantastic personality and I have absolutely no doubt she will be inspiring a lot of people right now, we want to inspire as many people as we can.
Di Dougherty
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Olivia not smiling,” she said. “I think she can be an inspiration to everybody at home and I think she can be an incredible role model to people who play sport or want to get into sport.
“I think that’s the key message she wants to get across is that sport is such a fantastic thing to be involved with.”
Mentor
In terms of the mentor pairing, Dougherty explained her role and how she hopes to help Breen in the next couple of years.
“My role entails passing on information to Olivia about how to media works and operates,” she added. “How Olivia should react before races, after races because she’s in the public eye and as a sportswoman she’s used to performing on the track but now she’s got to get used to performing off the track and get used to that media environment.
“When she comes across the way she wants to come across when speaking to the media and having those interactions, I think this will have a massive effect on her performance - giving her self- confidence, self-belief and motivation as well.
“Also the ripple effect of it is that it’s great when sponsors are watching when you come across the way you want to come across and also she wants to influence the next generation into sport and disability sports.
“She has a fantastic personality and I have absolutely no doubt she will be inspiring a lot of people right now, we want to inspire as many people as we can.”
Next up for Breen is a trip to the United States where she is looking both train and compete in her new event – the long jump.
“It’s going really well, it’s lots of fun,” she said of her new discipline. “I’m going to San Diego at the end of March with my coach to train and I’m hoping to compete out there too at an outdoor meet and see how that goes, I’m hoping to get qualified for the Commonwealth Games.”