Dan Bramble: Online appeal resurrects long jumper's Olympic bid
- Published
Daniel Bramble said being a delivery driver was tough physically - even for an athlete
A British long jumper has reignited his dreams of competing at the Olympics by raising thousands of pounds through a crowdfunding appeal.
Dan Bramble took a job as a delivery driver after losing his funding and seeing local training facilities in London closed by the pandemic.
But he has been able to return to full-time training after more than £12,000 was donated.
Almost £9,000 of the total came from a single donor.
The 30-year-old former British indoor champion, who narrowly missed out on qualification for the Rio Olympics in 2016, is targeting a place at the rescheduled Tokyo games next year.
Mr Bramble, originally from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said the money raised online would allow him to completely focus on his mission.
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The £8,875 donation from fitness firm Gymshark arrived on Thursday - the day after he turned 30 - prompting him to call it the "best belated birthday present ever".
It came after more than 18,000 people had liked a tweet about his switch from athletics to delivery driving.
He added: "From one silly tweet about a summer that I nearly didn't send, I've reached my GoFundMe goal.
"Honestly don't know what to say. I'm not a crier but boy... thankful."
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Mr Bramble said delivery driving had proven physically tough, even for a trained athlete, as it involved climbing hundreds of tower block steps each day.
"It improved my upper body strength actually," he said. "My lower back got a lot stronger from lifting all those boxes."
But now the long jumper has put his box-carrying days behind him to embark on a winter training programme at Loughborough University in preparation for Olympic qualifying next year.
"Realistically this feels like my last and best shot of making the Olympics and really making an impact there," he said.
"I think I have a shot - I know my full potential - so fingers crossed."
A spokeswoman for Gymshark said: "We saw Daniel's story, realised we could help, so did. We are a UK brand. We back our own."
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- Published15 October 2020
- Published30 April 2020
