Judoka Rhys Thompson rewarded for his enterprise at TASS Stars Awards
University of Bath judoka Rhys Thompson has been named as Most Enterprising athlete at the first-ever Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) Stars Awards.
Thompson was one of six athletes who receive financial, sport science and lifestyle support at the £30million Sports Training Village, a TASS Delivery Site, to be nominated for the national awards.
The award citation said: “Rhys has demonstrated his ambition and passion by making the very difficult decision to distance learn his degree from Bath, whilst also working on placement as a staff member and training full-time with the judo programme. His creatively and tenacity is particularly admirable having chosen to take on such an extreme challenge.”
James Lambdon, the University’s Programme Lead in Lifestyle & Sports Psychology, received the award on Thompson’s behalf during a presentation dinner that took place at the Olympic Stadium during the London 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
Joining Lambdon at the event were TASS athletes and award nominees Lloyd Wallace (aerial skiing, Most Dedicated), Kristian Callaghan (shooting, Most Inspirational) and Tom Gale (high jump, Star of the Year).
Star of the Year nominee Cameron Chalmers was unable to attend as he was part of the 4x400m relay squad at London 2017, while Sarah Collin (modern pentathlon, Most Dedicated) was competing at the Junior World Championships.
TASS is a unique government-backed partnership between talented young athletes, educational institutes and national governing bodies of sport.
The University of Bath supports 41 TASS athletes in education or athletes serving within the Army.
A dedicated team of staff provide a range of services to TASS athletes including physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, sport nutrition, sport psychology and lifestyle support.
