The University of Nottingham
will be well represented at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with six current and former students selected to compete for their national teams.
The athletes will be looking to continue the University’s strong sporting tradition, highlighted most recently by Olympic success in 2012. Five Nottingham graduates brought home two gold, two silver and one bronze medal from the London Games, placing the University joint 32nd in the overall medal table if regarded as an independent country.
Although
recent Olympic success has predominantly come on the water, with Tim Brabants,
Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott collectively claiming medals in Sydney, Beijing
and London, many eyes will be drawn to the athletics field this summer.
Recently
crowned British Champion high jumper Isobel Pooley will be pulling on the
Team England vest and looking to continue her current excellent form. The third
year Animal Science student beat off strong competition from Katarina
Johnson-Thompson and Morgan Lake to claim the national title and will be
looking to build upon that at the Glasgow Games.
“If
I perform near the standard that I’ve performed to already then a medal is a
very realistic target and a fantastically exciting thing” she said. “Having the
England jersey is a huge vote of confidence and I think that having a big
target like a medal puts me in a strong position — it’s even more of an attractive
goal to think that I could come home with some silverware.”
In
the table tennis, Chemical Engineering student and current Irish champion Paul
McCreery will be representing Team Northern Ireland.
The
University’s strong association with top level hockey also continues with the
selection of second year Economics student Harry Martin for Team England. Harry
deferred his entry to the University in 2012 in order to secure his place in
the Team GB hockey squad for the London Games. He will be joined in Glasgow by
fellow Olympians and Nottingham alumni George Pinner (Management Studies) and
Nick Catlin (History).
Another
alumna, Emma Beddoes (French and German) completes the Nottingham delegation
following her selection for Team England in the squash.
Assistant
Director of Sport (Performance) at the University, Alex Perry said: “The
University would like to congratulate our scholars on their selection for the
Commonwealth Games. It is an incredible opportunity that I am sure they will
grab with both hands and I wish them the very best in their quest for medals.”
The
20th Commonwealth Games will be the largest multi-sport event ever
held in Scotland, bringing together athletes from 71 nations, competing in 261
events across 17 sports. As well as table tennis and squash, men’s hockey gets
underway on Thursday 24 July as England takes on Trinidad and Tobago. The
women’s high jump final will take place on Friday 1 August. Follow all the
action from 23 July–3 August at www.glasgow2014.com.
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Notes
to editors: The
University of Nottingham has
43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university,
with campuses in China
and Malaysia modelled on
a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good
University Guide 2014). It is also the most popular university among graduate
employers, the world’s
greenest university, and winner of the Times
Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable
Development’. It is ranked in the World's Top 75 universities by the QS World
University Rankings.
Impact: The Nottingham
Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the
University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
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