Success for British Cycling at ethnic diversity sports awards

British Cycling enjoyed success at the inaugural British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Saturday.

Breeze champion Maryam Amatullah, one of three British Cycling nominees to be shortlisted, won the Unsung Hero category for her work in Leicester where she encourages women from all backgrounds to take up cycling.
Breeze is British Cycling’s programme to get more women into riding bikes for fun and is supported by a network of over a thousand female volunteers known as Breeze champions.

The BEDSA awards were the first of an annual ceremony celebrating excellence among black, asian and minority ethnic sports men and women and were attended by Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities, Helen Grant MP.

British Cycling president Bob Howden said:

"British Cycling is nothing without its volunteers and Maryam is a real credit to what is an army of people across the country who freely give up their time for the good of the sport. Breeze champions do brilliant work getting more women into cycling so it is especially pleasing to see someone like Maryam gain national recognition.

"Maryam, like cycling’s other nominees, represent the best of our great sport – inclusive, committed and possessing a passion to share the joy of just getting on your bike.

"At British Cycling we like to win but the big winner was the BEDSAs themselves. The inaugural event was a great celebration of the contribution made to this country’s sporting life by Britain’s black, asian and minority ethnic communities."

British Cycling sprint star Kian Emadi was nominated for Sportsman of the Year alongside Adam Gemili and Moeen Ali. Kian was nominated after a year which saw him win his first medal on the international stage, after winning silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow alongside Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes.

Peckham BMX club was nominated in the Community Sports Project Category, which has seen thousands of young people inspired to take up BMX though British Cycling’s industry-supported Go-Ride programme.