CONGRATULATIONS, ANITA RICHARDSON
Congratulations to ANITA RICHARDSON who has been awarded the England Athletics 2025 Lloyd Cowan Coaching Award.
The Lloyd Cowan Coaching Award recognises that no one with sporting potential is held back through lack of support. The Lloyd Cowan Bursary, therefore, provides grants to qualified coaches and unfunded athletes (aged 16–30) who face financial barriers while pursuing their athletic careers.
Anita is thoroughly deserving of this honour for her drive, care, and ongoing success as a Lead Sprints coach at Sportcity. With a coaching approach she describes as “competitive but nurturing,” she and her team at Sportcity bring excellence, skilfully developing their group of 100m–400m sprinters and multi-event athletes. Her athletes include SUCCESS EDUAN, World Relays gold medallist and double European U23 champion, and RACHEL BENNETT, who earned her first GB vest this year and set major new PBs.
Anita is herself a former GB junior international who returned to athletics after injury, competing for another decade before moving into coaching. She has also recently been appointed Development Relay Coach for the British Athletics U20 4x100m team.
This award is richly deserved for Anita’s commitment, care and the remarkable success of her athletes and coaching team. Her award was presented by Karen Forbes, Trustee for the Lloyd Cowan Trust who said, “It was a real pleasure to present the Lloyd Cowan Bursary Coach of the Year Award o a humble coach, Anita Richardson. Anita does not know just how amazing she is but this recognition is just so fitting as Lloyd was a real advocate of female coaches”.
(Lloyd Cowan was a GB& NI athlete who specialised in the 110m & 400m hurdles but is renowned as a very successful coach who coached such British athletes as Christine Ohuruogu and Sale Harrier’s very own Olympian ANDY TURNER, a member between 2006 -2014).
