Dean Kelly wins Cumbria Sports Award

The talents and dedication of athletes, sports teams, coaches and sport volunteers in Cumbria were celebrated last night (Friday 27th November) at the annual Cumbria Sports Awards. Nearly 300 guests, including former Olympic and World Triple Jump Champion Jonathan Edwards, and Olympic Silver Medal winning Rower, Alison Mowbray, congratulated winners at the event held at the Low Wood Hotel, Wind

Organised by Cumbria Sport Partnership, the awards recognise the outstanding talents, commitment and successes of teams and individuals throughout Cumbria who are involved in sport.

The winner of the Performance Award for People with a Disability went to DAA member Dean Kelly. In August this year, he returned a four-time champion from the World Dwarf Games. Having represented Great Britain at the games, he brought home an impressive haul of four gold and three silver medals. After a lot of training in the build up to the games, he bagged gold medals in the 100m, 200m, relay and football. His silver medals came in power lifting, javelin and discus.

A new Be Inspired Award was presented for the first time, and has been introduced to recognise the achievements of people from Cumbria in promoting the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, and the Paralympic values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality. The award will be made in each of the three years leading to London 2012, and the recipient is picked from the winners of all of the other sports awards categories. The first winner of the award was Dean Kelly, who has shown tremendous drive, commitment, and inspiration in his quest to improve as an all round sportsman, and who was rewarded at the recently held Dwarf World Games with four Gold and Three Silver Medals.