OLIVER NEWPORT has taken a step closer towards achieving his goal of being a professional long jumper after securing sponsorship from the Jaguar Academy of Sport.
The 18-year-old from Redhill has big ambitions for the next year, and the sponsorship will help fund his sporting ambitions alongside his education.
"My short term goals are to be selected to represent GB at the European Junior Championships in Italy in July, to win the outdoor National, Regional and County Championships at U20," he said.
"I have qualified for the outdoor senior championship/UK trials in the summer and again hope to achieve a good result at a national senior level.
"I want to go further than my personal best of 7.70m and to jump consistently well at around 7.50m.
"In the long term, I want to be at the level where I am top in the UK and doing the top level international competitions such as World Championships and Olympics."
The all-round sportsman, who names Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford among his heroes, is also a keen footballer and tennis player, but caught the athletics bug at K2.
"I was at Millwall's football academy and playing tennis for Surrey at the age of 11 but I had always been a fast sprinter," he said.
"I attended an open meeting at K2 run by Crawley AC and was bitten by the athletics bug because it was so exciting starting a race with a gun, running on a proper track and being timed officially."
