Photo credit: @livvy_breen | Instagram
The three-time Paralympian and double Commonwealth Games champion (winning gold in the T38 Long Jump in 2018 in Australia and gold in the T37/38 100M in 2022 in Birmingham) was nominated for the Sport award by the public, alongside the Wales National football team and snooker player Liam Davies.
A shortlist of three was then selected by the St David Awards Advisory Committee, with each category winner chosen by Wales’s First Minister, Mr. Mark Drakeford.
Wheelchair basketball player Kai Hamilton Frisby – who is 16-years old, comes from Aberystwyth and earlier this year took part in the BBC’s Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge – was also shortlisted for the St David Young Person Award.
“Olivia Breen has been a standout figure in the world of Paralympic sport for many years. She is a role model for so many individuals, not just for aspiring disabled athletes but for the whole sports sector,” says Nathan Stephens, Disability Sport Wales Performance Pathway Senior Officer.
“Her amazing success at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was one of Disability Sports Wales’s standout moments of the Games. All of Olivia’s hard work and determination coming to a pinnacle as she crossed the line, and the expression on her face said it all. On that day her excitement and joy were shared across the nation.
“Disability Sport Wales is so proud of what she has achieved, and it is extremely grateful for what she gives back to the Welsh community. To be nominated for the St David Award for Sport is an amazing accolade and really shows the impact she is having on the sport sector in Wales and further afield.
“Livvy deserves all the recognition for her continued enthusiasm and positive publicity she gives to disabled sport and physical activity.”
So honoured to have won the St David’s award for Sport last night - wow! Was really sorry not to have been able to be there to collect the award but thank you so much @WelshGovernment for all the support and recognition - it means the world! ❤️🏴 https://t.co/T9btlqHPt9
— oliviabreen (@BreenOlivia) April 21, 2023