Entain Plc has announced a breakthrough achievement for its headline CSR Foundation’s partnership with SportsAid, as sponsored athlete Niall Treacy has qualified for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (4-22 February).

 Treacy (21) from Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire, will represent Team GB as an elite short-track speed skater competing in Beijing’s 1000m race.

Team GB announced Treacy selection, following his fourth-place finish at the recent ISU Speed Skating World Cup hosted in Debrecen Hungary, that saw Treacy ranked amongst the top-15 skaters participating in the Olympic qualifier. 

Qualifying for Beijing, Niall follows his older brother Farrell Treacy who represented Team GB in the 1000m speed skating event at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics and will be part of the three-strong speed skating team announced in today’s line up for Beijing. 

“It’s so exciting, I’m proud of myself for doing it because Farrell went in PyeongChang and it’s shown that you can do this,” Treacy commented  

“It feels like, because he’s done it, there’s no reason I can’t do it either. Four years later, finally, we’ve done it, there’s a sense of relief and a sense of pride all mixed in together.”

Treacy’s development has been supported by the Entain Foundation’s mentoring partnership with SportsAid to support the UK’s next generation of aspiring elite athletes.

 Since 2018, Entain and SportsAid have helped 50 aspiring athletes a year across England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, with each athlete receiving annual financial support to contribute towards training, competition, travel and equipment costs.

“We are really delighted for Niall that he will be competing at the Beijing Olympics next year,” said Grainne Hurst, Director of Regulatory Affairs and a Trustee of the Entain Foundation.

“We support SportsAid because it is clearly helping aspiring young athletes in communities across the country compete at the highest level.”

SportsAid is one of several major grassroots and community sports initiatives funded by the Entain Foundation via its headline Pitching In multi-million-pound funding programme.

Entertain’s Foundation also supports local football in The Trident Leagues – which bridge the worlds of recreational and professional football – with 240 clubs and 15,000 players in villages, towns and cities across England and Wales