Veteran duathlete and triathlete Barbara Leverett, 62, won the award last year but could not collect it as she was in Australia defending her World Triathlon Championship, where she finished fourth.

Days later she triumphed in the World Aquathlon Championships and added another gold medal to her impressive collection at the World Duathlon Championships in the USA.

Leverett was runner up in the Suffolk Sports Awards in October and narrowly missed out on the Living Sports Awards in Cambridge to Pidley based Charlotte Edwards, who captained the England Ladies Cricket team to an Ashes, World Cup and World Twenty/20 Championship treble.

Leverett said: "I am so thrilled to receive this award and to launch the 2010 St Edmundsbury Sports Awards.

"These awards are extremely important as they focus on local sporting achievements and they seek to inspire other up-and-coming sports men and women in St Edmundsbury to strive for success both locally, nationally and internationally.

For the full story see this week's Echo, out yesterday.

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