Inverness teenager proud to be nominated for Scotland’s best young athlete of the year

AIDAN Lennan says being in contention to be named the top young athlete in Scotland is one of the highlights of his career so far.

The Inverness kickboxer has been shortlisted for the Young Athlete of the Year Award at the Scottish Sports Awards which take place next month.

Lennan (17) who became a kickboxing world champion earlier this year, has been nominated alongside cyclist Erin Boothman and cricketer Nayma Sheikh for the coveted award.

The UHI student, who is in first year studying sports coaching and development, says it was a huge honour to be nominated for the award.

He says while he was surprised to be shortlisted, it is fantastic recognition for what he has done in his career and for the sport of kickboxing too.

He said: “I didn’t even know that I was nominated when I was told that I made the final shortlist.

“This is the first time that I have been nominated for the award and I am very proud.”

Lennan was crowned world champion in Budapest, Hungary when he won two gold medals and was ranked top athlete in the world for the junior male under-19 under 63kg category.

He said the world championships were intense, but he said that he approached them in the right mindset resulting in his success.

“It was really hard as I was involved in two fights every day. But I stayed disciplined during the World Championships, going to sleep early and eating all the right food.

“My category had the biggest number of entries in the entire competition. There were a lot of fighters competing from around the world. I knew some of the boys who I fought at the European Championships the year before.

“All the other entrants I didn’t know. But the night before each fight, me and my Dad would look up the I-Pad, watch fights and write down notes to come up with a gameplan before we competed.

“We always do our homework before a fight and never go into a bout without doing our research.”

Looking to the future, Lennan says he has aspirations of representing Great Britain in the Olympics if he decides to remain competing at amateur level. But he is also considering taking up the sport professionally.

He said: “I would like to try and get to the Olympics in either 2028 or 2032 and I would consider staying amateur to compete at them.

“But I am also considering going professional in the future.”

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