harlequin sponsor olympic hurdler

Harlequin Logistics is sponsoring Leicester-based hurdler Lucy Hatton in her quest to represent Team GB at Rio 2016.

The haulage company has stepped in to help the 21-year-old fund her training and preparation over the next year.

Harlequin director Ben Gregory said: “When we heard Lucy was looking for new sponsors, we met with her and quickly decided we were interested in offering her some support,” he said.

“Official funding for the world-class programme is hard to come by, and given that Lucy is aiming to represent our country on the biggest of all sporting stages, we thought it was the least we could do.”

Hatton, who combines her training at Loughborough University with a criminology degree at Leicester University, won the silver medal in last year’s European Indoor Championships in Prague.

The former English Schools champion said Harlequin’s support would make a big difference to her preparations in this Olympic year.

“This sponsorship allowed me to do some training in South Africa during January, and to enter some competitions in the US when I’m working on converting over from indoor to outdoor,” she said. “The flights, accommodation and food costs all add up, so this is a great help in funding those things.”