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A local athlete is one step closer to realising her dream of making it to Los Angeles 2028 after being selected for British Athletic's Paralympic Futures programme.
Para-discus thrower Rachel Leck heard the news whilst on her way to a training camp in Mauritius.
Paralympic Futures is a pathway that supports athletes and coaches who have demonstrated the potential to succeed at a future Paralympic Games.
Leck, who has cerebral palsy, is one of five newcomers to the 2024-25 cohort who will be given development opportunities in a series of camps that work towards the Paralympic Word Class programme.
Her coach, Spartan Athletic's Catarina Hallden, will also be joining her on the programme and developing as a coach.
This is the latest success for Leck who, just a few years ago, was only learning how to throw a discus.
The 28-year-old represented England at an international meeting in Manchester this summer, and recently flew out to Mauritius to to part in the Commonwealth GAPS (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) initiative.
Pictured: Leck was Jersey's first para athlete to attend a Commonwealth GAPS camp.
Leck is still hesitant to describe herself as a professional athlete – despite sharing a room with Paris Paralympian Maddie Down during her first weekend at the Paralympic Futures Academy in Loughborough.
Due to how quickly things have developed in her athletic career, Leck said that it is taking a while to sink in as she trains with international athletes and gets one step closer to calling herself a Paralympian.
"It is a bit overwhelming because it's official, I suppose," she said.
"I think I'd made really good progress this year, but in Jersey you're sort of in your own little bubble and you get on with it.
"I'm going to the UK on these camps and things and sometimes don't have the confidence, so it was nice to be around all the other athletes, and their coaches were reminding me that I've been put on the programme for a reason.
"So it's kind of just getting used to it now until it becomes a bit more normal. We are just all normal athletes that are good at our sport."
During her first Paralympic Futures camp, Rachel endured an intense weekend of psychology, nutrition sessions and strength and conditioning testing at the High Performance Center at Loughborough University.
Leck said it felt "a bit surreal" to have been selected for the prestigious programme, which has seen many athletes go on to compete in the Paralympics.
The discus thrower said she has now found a "family" of disabled athletes that she didn't have in Jersey.
"What's going to be really good about [Paralympic] Futures is that connection and community," said Leck.
"We all keep in touch and follow each other and so I have other people to push me and get me to where I want to be."
Leck admitted that is has been challenging to juggle work alongside her growing schedule of training and competition, but said that her workplace – Baker Tilly Channel Islands Limited – had been supportive.
"This year I've done my first full athletics competition season with work," she explained.
"I think the struggle for me this year was having enough time off.
"I used all my holidays for competition, so I need to remember to give myself a break!"
After a Christmas break, Leck will be start working on her 2025 goals – which include qualifying for the one of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix events and the World Para Athletics Championships. before working towards the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2026 where she hopes to represent the island.
"Obviously we've just had a Paralympic year, so everything then tends to die down a bit and [competitions] push to a bit later in the year," she explained.
"So I think it's [working towards] English championships after getting a good block of winter training, and then see where we go next year."
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