Five athletes who benefited from game-changing grassroots funding flew the Team GB flag at this summer's Paris Olympic Games.

Alex Wise, Beth Shriever, Charlie Dobson, Hannah Kelly and Luke Whitehouse were all beneficiaries of funding from Entain, via its Pitching In initiative with SportsAid.

Archery star Wise, 24, BMX racer Shriever, 25, gymnast Whitehouse, 22, and 400m sprinters Dobson, 24, and Kelly, 23, are just five members of several recently-supported Entain cohorts to go on to achieve sporting stardom.

The group were part of Team GB at this summer’s Olympic Games as Entain passed £500,000 in donations to over 251 athletes in a six-year partnership with SportsAid.

Shriever, who won gold racing at the Tokyo Olympics, was a beneficiary of the Entain-SportsAid partnership in 2019. Others to receive support include 400m runner Hannah Williams, who also competed in Tokyo, short-track speed skater Niall Treacy, who competed at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games; discus dynamo Chukwuemeka Osammor; pole vaulter Sophie Ashurst, cyclist Georgia Holt, and frame runner Rafi Solaiman—all of whom have earned major championship success.

Since 2019, Entain’s partnership with SportsAid has helped 251 athletes by providing them with a financial award to help with training, equipment, competition costs, and personal development training.

Dobson, who powered Team GB across the line in the men’s4x400m relay final, as well as making the semi-final of the individual event, said: “The Pitching In programme really helped me a lot and was pretty cool to be a part of. SportsAid have helped a lot of quality athletes, and they help with the transition from juniors to seniors really well.”

Ahead of competing, he added: “I feel the momentum is with me now. The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world and having missed it three years ago because of injury, making it this year is the icing on the cake for me.”

Luke Whitehouse, who came sixth in the men’s floor final and competed alongside Max Whitlock in the men’s Team Gymnastics, coming fourth, added: “The funding from Pitching In and SportsAid helped me a lot. It was a confidence boost for me and the workshops that were put on helped contribute to my success.” After competing in Paris, he added: “It was crazy – I’m now an Olympian, and there are only a small amount of people in the world who can say that!”

To date, 48% of Entain-supported athletes have a disability, and 16% come from ethnically diverse communities, underlining the aim to support a diverse cohort of sports people across the nation. A total of seven athletes have now made the Olympic stage after receiving Entain-SportsAid funding with one gold and two bronze medals returned. The gold was achieved by Shriever in Tokyo while Dobson and Kelly claimed a bronze each in the men’s 4x400m and women’s 4x400m relays respectively.   

Supporting young athletes via SportsAid is part of Pitching In, Entain’s multi-million-pound grassroots sports investment programme. SportsAid supports over 1,000 athletes each year by providing them with a financial award to help with training and competition costs.

In Paris, a remarkable 64% of the athletes selected to represent Team GB – 224 of the 351, including travelling reserves – previouslyreceived financial support and recognition from the charity during their careers. SportsAid alumni ended up winning 12 gold, 16 silver and 25 bronze medals in a remarkable haul. The 53 podium finishes claimed by beneficiaries of the charity's support came across 15 different sports and surpassed the total of 47 medals from Tokyo 2020.

Tim Lawler MBE, CEO of SportsAid, said: "Our partnership with Entain has continued to evolve year-on-year and the well-rounded support provided to these aspiring young sports stars gives them added confidence and motivation to pursue their ambitions. We have also seen an increased awareness of SportsAid and a much wider audience is hearing the stories behind the next generation of sporting heroes."