Oliver Gunning revelling in 'rollercoaster' summer with career-best result

By Oli Dickson Jefford

Oliver Gunning is still revelling in a ‘rollercoaster’ summer that saw him compete at the Commonwealth Games before achieving a best ever career result.

The Co Antrim ace, who races alongside guide Kyle Duncan, competed at an array of World and European series events this summer in addition to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

There were mixed emotions for the paratriathlete after his Commonwealth bow, who took significant joy from the atmosphere despite a crash on the bike leg hampering his race.

“We didn’t have the race we wanted to have unfortunately,” said Gunning, who benefits from financial support from Boost Drinks – a company born over 20 years ago with a vision of energising everybody in every way and is committed to supporting its local communities, whether this be fuelling them with its range of Sports, Energy, Iced Coffee, and Protein Drinks, or by getting more involved to help them achieve their goal.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, I’ll tell you that. It’s been an amazing summer. I think there’s four different countries I’ve been over the summer racing.

“We didn’t have the race we wanted to have unfortunately. We got out of the water in around fifth or sixth-place, so we were really happy coming out of the water, and then we sadly crashed on the second lap of the bike. It was what it was, we still finished the race ninth out of ten.

“There was a little bit of disappointment because I was there in peak condition for a major games but I was 17 years old at the Commonwealth Games, I couldn’t complain at all about how it went.

“It was really nice as well that it was close by, so a lot of my family and friends got to come over and watch the race which was amazing, hearing them scream and yell as you flew past them on the bike.”

SportsAid supports over 1,000 athletes each year – in the early stages of their career – by providing them with a financial award to help towards training and competition costs.

This acts as a real motivational boost as it is often the first recognition they receive outside of their support network, with most of them relying heavily on their parents as they have no other funding.

These athletes are Great Britain's brightest sporting prospects, nominated to SportsAid by the national governing bodies of more than 60 sports based on set criteria from each.

The typical value of a SportsAid award is £1,000 with money generated through a combination of commercial partnerships, trust and charitable funds, and fundraising activities.

After further bike disappointment at the World Series event in Swansea, where he finished in ninth-place, Gunning bounced back with a career-best second place finish in the European Series event in Bari.

And he added: “I was racing in Bari in Italy, it basically couldn’t have gone much better.

“It was really nice to have a race that went so I wouldn’t have to change to make it any better after the races at the start of the year.

“I finished second in that race overall so we were really happy. That was my first international podium as well, a European Cup race.”

Boost Drinks provides young athletes with financial support, recognition, and personal development opportunities through its partnership with SportsAid. Each athlete receives a £1,000 award which contributes towards costs such as travel, accommodation, and equipment – for more information visit www.boostdrinks.com