By Simon Hamalienko


An Olympic fencing hopeful has received a vital boost to his sporting ambitions after securing a much sought-after sponsorship from the University of Leicester.
Economics student Gaurav Gupta, 19, has been given support by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Sir Bob Burgess, as well as the University’s Sports and Recreation team.
The sponsorship will cover the costs of weekly private training lessons with a professional coach, Tomek Walicki, in London. This will allow Gupta to increase his training to further his skills and produce better results in competitions.
In addition to the sponsorship, Gupta has free personal training sessions at the University gym, which enables him to train during his time in Leicester.
Gupta has already represented India in the Asian Championships and the World Championships. He also won India’s Championship in 2009, was a runner-up in 2010 and most recently achieved an eight place in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in October. 
His next big competitions are the University Championships and India’s Championship in January 2011. Gupta also aims to represent India in the London 2012 Olympics with qualifiying rounds taking place in 2011.
Gupta’s family are originally from Uttar Pradesh in northern India but he has lived in England all his life. He got involved with fencing as an after-school activity when he was 12 years old but after showing potential, took it more seriously. Since then, he has progressed rapidly and achieved high results at national and international competitions.
He has been enjoying his time at the university, studying economics that he feels passionate about and getting a good group of friends in the first year.  However, with the increased amount of academic work in his second year, Gupta has been advised to prioritise which competitions to take part in:
Gupta said: “I’m focusing only on the big competitions now. Although I lose the experience of smaller competitions, education comes first. Also, this gives me more time to train and with the support I receive from the university, I can maximise available time for training and studies and progress my fencing skills.
“Setting myself goals I want to achieve keeps me focused. I’m very thankful to the university, the Vice-Chancellor, the Department of Economics, the Student Development Zone, the fencing club, my friends and family for their continuing support and encouragement.”
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Bob Burgess, said: “Gupta is a talented fencer and I am delighted that the university is able to support him in his endeavours to take part in the Olympics 2012. 
“I believe it is important to support students who are highly able in other activities, as well as in the academic arena, as it provides them with valuable transferable skills that will be of benefit to them after their time at university.”

Add comment on this article