THE blossoming bobsleigh careers of Wiltshire teenagers Abi Davies and Anna Alexander Holmes have been given a push with the duo set to benefit from a slice of post-Winter Olympic Games funding.

Holt's Alexander-Holmes, 19, and Davies, 18 and from Trowbridge, will receive financial help over the next three years from a £30,000 pot of SportsAid funding announced in the wake of the recent Games in Sochi.

The duo, who took to the ice for the first time at a British Bobsleigh Futures Programme training camp in Igls, Austria, last month, are this week preparing to take part in the British Championships at the same track. 

Bath-based World Cup skeleton sliders Ed Smith, David Swift and Rose McGrandle are also among the 20-strong group set to benefit.

2010 Olympic women's skeleton champion Amy Williams, who herself received SportsAid support in the years before her triumph in Vancouver, said: “This will make a huge difference to these athletes.

“The next generation are under huge financial pressure and to realise the potential that Sochi showed us, funding like this is vital.''

SportsAid hope partners will match-fund the £30,000 and chief executive Tim Lawler said: "British Bobsleigh and British Skeleton tell us that around 20 of their young athletes need SportsAid's help each year.

"SportsAid has committed to support them but we need more help to ensure the next generation can achieve their ambitions."

Anyone interested in supporting the aspiring athletes with SportsAid can contact Graham Dandy on 020 7273 1977 or email graham@sportsaid.org.uk.

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