Justin Davies has been named as the latest Team Bath Rengen Athlete of the Month after he smashed national records, won his first British title and qualified for the European Athletics Championships.
Justin Davies (centre) with Stephen Baddeley and Performance Sport Officer Sarah Collin | Photo © Team Bath
The athlete, who trains and studies at the University of Bath, has enjoyed a strong winter campaign which has seen him slice nearly four seconds off his 800m indoor personal best.
His winning time of 1:45.78 at the inaugural Keely Klassic in Birmingham broke a Welsh record that had stood for 13 years, and the Alumni Fund Sporting Scholar followed that up with a victory at the British Indoor Championships, improving on the bronze medal he had won 12 months earlier.
Those performances earned Davies a first GB selection for a major championship and he went on to reach the semi-finals at the European Indoors in Apeldoorn, gaining invaluable international experience.
Davies was the unanimous choice of the judging panel for the February award.
He said: “I’m incredibly honoured to be Athlete of the Month. There are so many fantastic athletes based here, so to be recognised like this means a lot.
“The season has been really good. The highlight for me was the British Championships, winning that was something I didn’t think would be possible.
“Getting to represent GB on the global stage was fantastic too, it was eye-opening to see the calibre of athletes and totally inspiring.”
Davies is the second winner of the new award, following wheelchair fencer Susie Seddon-Cowell, which celebrates the achievements, commitment and dedication of student-athletes on the Team Bath Student Performance Sport Breakthrough Programme.
Both the award and the programme, which provides more than 160 student-athletes across 25 different sports with bespoke support designed to help them maximise their academic and sporting potential, are supported by Team Bath partners Rengen.
