Athletes

Expect to discover three MBE stars, a paralympic superstar, the current European and Commonwealth Champion, as well as a short track speed skater. Notts is fit to burst with its athletic sporting stars.

Andy Turner

Andy Turner was born in Hucknall, Nottingham in 1980 and was educated at Nottingham High School. He is an English track and field athlete, and competes in the 110 metre hurdles, where he is the current European and Commonwealth Champion. He also occasionally competes in the 100 and 200 metre sprints and long jump. 

Etienne Stott, MBE

Etienne Stott won the Gold Medal at the London 2012 Olympics in the sport of canoe slalom, with his crewmate Tim Baillie. He moved to Nottingham in 1997 to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nottingham. He trains at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont. The Gold medal was a historic first in canoe slalom for team GB and formed part of the unprecedented medal haul that saw Team GB capture the imagination of the country.

Tim Baillie, MBE

Tim is a Canoe Slalom athlete who was born in Aberdeen. At the age of 18, in 1997, he moved to Nottingham to study at the University of Nottingham and to train on the white water course at the National Water Sports Centre.

2012 was his eighth season of racing in a double canoe with Etienne Stott and won Gold in the London Olympic Games. It was a historic first Gold for GB in the sport of canoe slalom. He was appointed MBE in the 2013 New Years Honours and was also awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Nottingham in the same year. 

Richard Whitehead

Born in Nottingham in 1976, Richard Whitehead is a gold medal Paralympics superstar. Richard has a double above-knee congenital amputation and runs with prosthetic legs. He first got involved in Athletics in 2004 after being inspired by a documentary about Canadian athlete Terry Fox, an amputee marathon-runner. Today, Richard holds the world record for athletes with a double amputation, in both the full and half marathon.

At Paralympics 2012, Richard won gold for Britain in the T42 200m and blasted across the line in 24.38 seconds, breaking his own world record. In 2013, he achieved the challenge of running 40 marathons in 40 days to prove that any barrier can be overcome and to raise money for charities Sarcoma UK and Scope.

In November 2013, Richard received an honorary degree from Nottingham Trent University, the Doctor of the University award. 

Elise Christie

Elise Christie is the British number one Short Track Speed Skater, and was world ranked one in 1000m following her success in the 2012/2013 season. She moved to Nottingham when she was 15 after being invited to join the GB Short Track Speed Skating team who train at the National Ice Centre. Elise won a bronze medal at the World Championships 2013.

Take a look at Elise's blog which she wrote for us about her favourite places in Notts. 

Penny Briscoe, MBE

Penny, who was born in Notts, is a former international canoeist who has guided Britain to Paralympic glory. She has been the director of the British Paralympic Association since 2002 and has helped to engineer team GB's record Paralympic haul of 120 medals. In November 2013, her achievements were praised as she was awarded her MBE.