Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix has continued the most successful year of her young career to date by becoming The National Lottery Awards' Athlete of the Year for 2022.
Less than a week after finishing runner-up in the Piotr Nurowski Prize, the 18-year-old diver was presented with the
award at her London Aquatics Centre training base earlier today (6th October 2022).
She was nominated for the award alongside fellow British Swimming athlete Alice Tai, with the pair up against similarly impressive performers, including Team Scotland’s double Commonwealth medallist Eilish McColgan and Team England’s weightlifting champion Emily Campbell.
The award, which was decided by public vote, recognises the performances and legacy of Great Britain’s sporting heroes and showcases the impact of National Lottery funding on elite sport. Andrea received more than 4,000 of the 11,000 votes cast overall.
The award wraps up what has been a spectacular summer for Spendolini-Sirieix, who produced seven medal-winning performances across the three major summer competitions, including two noteworthy gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in the Women's 10m Platform and Mixed 10m Synchro events, before triumphing in the individual and synchro women's events from 10m at the European Championships in Rome.
Speaking on her achievement, Spendolini-Sirieix was over the moon with the news.
“I’m just speechless. It’s mind-blowing. To be one of the nominees and then to have won, I don’t really know how to describe how I’m feeling. I’m just very, very thankful," she said.
“It gives me a lot of joy because I love what I do, I love my sport. To win accolades and awards like this, it’s such a beautiful sport and it’s incredible.
“The National Lottery help fund athletes and without them I wouldn’t be able to train. I’m very grateful for all of their support and to the public as well, every week they raise £30 million for good causes and that is mind-blowing. It’s the power of community and the power of everyone working together for us so I’m very, very grateful.”