“Excellent emotional support combined with professional and well guided advice.”
“Felt really supported throughout it all and always knew there was someone there if I needed more advice.”
An anonymised individual supported by the BEAA following the abuse of British gymnasts said they appreciated: “The support to talk and be around people that understand without the effort to explain every detail. It was a relief to be understood.”
“Despite having enthusiastically been in various forms of therapy since I was 21, and having raised this issue a number of times, this was the first time I’d ever had my gymnastics experiences taken seriously and spoken about compassionately as abuse.”
Anna’s illustrious rowing career saw her win gold at London 2012 and bronze at Beijing 2008, as well as two World Championship titles. She leads the organisation in maximising its strategy in order to further evolve, respond effectively to athlete and system-wide demands, and deliver truly world-leading support to British athletes.
Following an international sporting career which spanned well over a decade, Anna, who was awarded an MBE for services to rowing in 2013, moved into consultancy. She was a vice president at McKinsey’s advanced analytics arm, QuantumBlack, and has since worked as an independent consultant, undertaking work in areas including strategy, performance and wellbeing. In addition, she remained involved in sport following her retirement as both an athlete mentor and coach.
Sporting hero: Cathy Freeman
Sarah is an experienced operational lead and joined the BEAA having led operations for the charity Safe Passage. Her previous operational roles include nine years at the Rugby Football Union as well as supporting the Football Association.
Sarah is qualified in safer recruitment, GDPR, and understanding equality and diversity.
Sporting hero: Jonny Wilkinson
She was seconded to the BEAA from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to lead the support team set up to offer end-to-end case management for children, families and elite athletes affected by allegations of mistreatment in gymnastics.
Elaine held a team manager role at the NSPCC from 2019, and before that gained considerable experience in social worker and senior social worker roles in both England and Northern Ireland.
As part of her role at the BEAA, she works alongside both athletes and sports to ensure that safeguarding processes are understood and correctly implemented. She was awarded an MBE in 2024 for services to young people and safeguarding in sport.
Sporting hero: Simone Biles
As well as being an Athlete Support Manager, she leads on equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation, ensuring that the BEAA is constantly progressing in this field.
Before this, Emma worked as a helpline practitioner for the NSPCC, following a role as a Senior Safeguarding Children and Families Officer at a secondary school in Leeds.
Based in Belfast, Emma is passionate about sport, having played international football for Northern Ireland at youth level and completed a degree in sports studies at Leeds Beckett University.
Sporting hero: Jessica Ennis-Hill
Based in Glasgow, Fiona is passionate about sport, having recently retired after almost a decade in international hockey.
She completed a law degree at the University of Glasgow, along with a sport and physical activity degree from the University of Strathclyde, and an MSc in performance coaching from the University of Stirling.
Sporting hero: Laura Muir
Before joining the BEAA she was an athlete with the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, having represented Great Britain in the Europa Cup and won bronze on just her sixth start. Before joining her World Class Programme, Milly earned a degree in Child and Youth Studies, trained as a teacher and taught primary school children alongside training.
She came to the BBSA’s attention as part of UK Sport’s Discover Your Gold talent identification, having previously been a keen 100m sprinter.
Milly’s role involves supporting athletes on a one-to-one basis, as well as working to bring the athlete community together as a whole.
Sporting hero: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Jenny previously managed the Athlete Services Team for the British Olympic Association over nine years. Her experience focused on the athlete preparation and support programme, engagement strategies, team culture and post-retirement support for Olympians. She led athlete support programmes at each Olympic Games since Sochi 2014 and was part of the leadership team for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Jenny’s career started in developing university sport, before working in sports development for the London Borough of Brent, focused on clubs and coaching. She went on to be part the Education Team for UK Anti-Doping, which included a secondment to the World Anti-Doping Agency for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sporting hero: Eve Muirhead
With a background in football, Ben began his career as a freelance writer with brands like SPORTbible and Paddy Power, and today still writes for FourFourTwo.
He moved to the BEAA from Premier League club Crystal Palace, where he worked for four years, overseeing their website, app and matchday programme output.
Sporting hero: Gordon Banks
Anna’s illustrious rowing career saw her win gold at London 2012 and bronze at Beijing 2008, as well as two World Championship titles. She leads the organisation in maximising its strategy in order to further evolve, respond effectively to athlete and system-wide demands, and deliver truly world-leading support to British athletes.
Following an international sporting career which spanned well over a decade, Anna, who was awarded an MBE for services to rowing in 2013, moved into consultancy. She was a vice president at McKinsey’s advanced analytics arm, QuantumBlack, and has since worked as an independent consultant, undertaking work in areas including strategy, performance and wellbeing. In addition, she remained involved in sport following her retirement as both an athlete mentor and coach.
Sporting hero: Cathy Freeman
Sarah is an experienced operational lead and joined the BEAA having led operations for the charity Safe Passage. Her previous operational roles include nine years at the Rugby Football Union as well as supporting the Football Association.
Sarah is qualified in safer recruitment, GDPR, and understanding equality and diversity.
Sporting hero: Jonny Wilkinson
She was seconded to the BEAA from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to lead the support team set up to offer end-to-end case management for children, families and elite athletes affected by allegations of mistreatment in gymnastics.
Elaine held a team manager role at the NSPCC from 2019, and before that gained considerable experience in social worker and senior social worker roles in both England and Northern Ireland.
As part of her role at the BEAA, she works alongside both athletes and sports to ensure that safeguarding processes are understood and correctly implemented. She was awarded an MBE in 2024 for services to young people and safeguarding in sport.
Sporting hero: Simone Biles
As well as being an Athlete Support Manager, she leads on equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation, ensuring that the BEAA is constantly progressing in this field.
Before this, Emma worked as a helpline practitioner for the NSPCC, following a role as a Senior Safeguarding Children and Families Officer at a secondary school in Leeds.
Based in Belfast, Emma is passionate about sport, having played international football for Northern Ireland at youth level and completed a degree in sports studies at Leeds Beckett University.
Sporting hero: Jessica Ennis-Hill
Based in Glasgow, Fiona is passionate about sport, having recently retired after almost a decade in international hockey.
She completed a law degree at the University of Glasgow, along with a sport and physical activity degree from the University of Strathclyde, and an MSc in performance coaching from the University of Stirling.
Sporting hero: Laura Muir
Before joining the BEAA she was an athlete with the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, having represented Great Britain in the Europa Cup and won bronze on just her sixth start. Before joining her World Class Programme, Milly earned a degree in Child and Youth Studies, trained as a teacher and taught primary school children alongside training.
She came to the BBSA’s attention as part of UK Sport’s Discover Your Gold talent identification, having previously been a keen 100m sprinter.
Milly’s role involves supporting athletes on a one-to-one basis, as well as working to bring the athlete community together as a whole.
Sporting hero: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Jenny previously managed the Athlete Services Team for the British Olympic Association over nine years. Her experience focused on the athlete preparation and support programme, engagement strategies, team culture and post-retirement support for Olympians. She led athlete support programmes at each Olympic Games since Sochi 2014 and was part of the leadership team for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Jenny’s career started in developing university sport, before working in sports development for the London Borough of Brent, focused on clubs and coaching. She went on to be part the Education Team for UK Anti-Doping, which included a secondment to the World Anti-Doping Agency for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sporting hero: Eve Muirhead
With a background in football, Ben began his career as a freelance writer with brands like SPORTbible and Paddy Power, and today still writes for FourFourTwo.
He moved to the BEAA from Premier League club Crystal Palace, where he worked for four years, overseeing their website, app and matchday programme output.
Sporting hero: Gordon Banks
