Steeplechaser Mark Buckingham (pictured, left) and 5,000 metres runner Matt Gunby have both joined the elite training squad in Loughborough where they are being coached by Rick Velati.

The pair were recruited to the sport by the British Triathlon talent identification programme, trigold, after displaying the drive and determination to make the transition and strive for world and Olympic success.

Buckingham, 25, from Holmfirth in Yorkshire, narrowly missed a place in the England Commonwealth Games team in 2006.

He competed in both the European and World Duathlon Championships during 2010.

Buckingham said: "Trigold has given me the opportunity to try a new sport and, more importantly, train full time and not have to fit training around work for the first time in my life.

"The opportunity to train full time in pursuit of Olympic gold is amazing."

Gunby, aged 22 from Barnack in Lincolnshire, has the right sporting genetics to make it to the top - his grandfather played cricket for England and his parents competed in national level sport.

His running background includes a 5 kilometres personal best time of 14min 29sec, and although he only recently started swimming competitively at Durham University, coaching from a former Scottish national coach at the Borough of Sunderland club has enabled him to progress rapidly.

Gunby (pictured below) won a silver medal at the 2010 GE Edinburgh ITU Duathlon World Championships in September.



"The support of the Wells Foundation and Barrie Wells has opened up opportunities that I simply would not have had," he said.

"British Triathlon is one of the best, if not the best, governing body, and to have those support services behind me means I will be as good as I can be."

Last year's trigold athletes, Katie Ingram and Adam Bowden, have made significant progress in 2010 and have applied to be added to the UK Sport Lottery-funded World Class Programme.

The trigold programme is funded by sports enthusiast and successful entrepreneur Barrie Wells, who has also created the charity Wells Sports Foundation.

He said: "I think trigold is a fantastic initiative that has already delivered international successes for Katie Ingram and Adam Bowden this year.

"I have enjoyed watching them compete at the highest level and look forward to seeing how our latest recruits progress – it's great to be able to go on this journey with them.

"trigold offers a unique opportunity to transfer from one sport to another and achieve rapid success.

"It's a fascinating and life-changing process for these athletes, and I'm delighted to be involved with it.

"As an ex-athlete myself, I am passionate about sport and this led me to set up the Wells Sports Foundation to help promote and support grassroots sports in local communities.

"As part of this, I am also funding a number of elite athletes alongside the trigold competitors, all of whom I believe have the potential to be on the podium at the 2012 Olympics and who act as ambassadors for the Foundation."

British Triathlon Performance Director Heather Williams believes trigold has real potential to increase medal-winning opportunities.

"The criteria for selection to trigold are very stringent," she said.

"Athletes are required to have achieved very high standards in running and have a background in swimming.

"Mark and Matt already have experience of duathlon at international level, so they know what will be required of them on the bike, and how fast they will need to run to be successful.

"The progress of our existing trigold athletes has demonstrated that this approach to recruitment of potential medal-winning athletes works.

"It obviously takes time for athletes to adapt to a multisport training and competition environment, but we are now two years out from London 2012 and still have the opportunity and time to unearth some exciting new talent.

"With the support of Barrie Wells and the UK Sport Lottery-funded British Triathlon World Class Performance resources in Loughborough, the two athletes have a strong team behind them to deliver on the highest stage."