NATALIE Powell is among 32 athletes nominated for membership to join the British Judo Olympic and Paralympic World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) for 2023/24.
The Irfon Judo Club star from Builth Wells is included in the 'Olympic Podium Potential' list.
The Olympic and Paralympic WCPP is UK Sport’s National Lottery funded initiative which has the purpose to identify, develop and support talented athletes towards medal success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and other major Championships.
Athletes are nominated for the WCPP to further the aim of British Judo to win medals at the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Therefore, British Judo must be confident that any athlete nominated for the WCPP has the realistic potential and demonstrable performance capability and capacity to make the necessary progress to achieve a medal at least in one of the next two Olympic or Paralympic Games.
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Powell said: "I am really pleased to have been included in the Performance Programme for another year.
"Without the National Lottery funding it would be extremely difficult to pursue my goal of winning an Olympic medal in Paris next summer. Training's been going well, so am excited to see what this year holds."
British Judo Performance Director, Nigel Donohue added: "We very much appreciate the support we receive from UK Sport and the National Lottery, which is instrumental in providing British Judo with the necessary resources to deliver a high-performance programme.
“This is the most exciting year of the cycle as we near the end of qualification for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in readiness for Paris 2024. Although there is still a lot of work to do, we believe we have the potential to repeat our previous Games medal success.
“Post Games, we execute our LA2028 strategy that we have been preparing for, over the last 4 years.
“Without the support we receive from UK Sport, we would never be able to deliver such a World Class Programme or the fighters would not have the financial capacity to commit to the demands of elite judo.
“The National Lottery has changed the landscape of Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK and we aim to continue to contribute to TeamGB and ParalympicGB’s Games success.”
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