LONDON, December 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

GB Olympics hopeful, Kelly Sibley has been handed a financial lifeline by sports betting community site, OLBG.com.

As reported by the BBC^[1], Kelly feared that her dream to compete at the London 2012 Olympics would be shattered unless she was able to secure sponsorship, having lost her funding from UK Sport.

The 22-year-old, who has represented England at the Commonwealth Games and is the reigning Ladies English National Table Tennis Champion is now firmly on course to fulfil her ambition of participating at the Games.

The secured finance will enable Kelly to continue full time training at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, where other Olympic prospects including heptathlete Jessica Ennis train, and will cover all her necessary day-to-day expenses. As well as this, OLBG.com are funding Kelly's training trip to China.

'I'm very grateful to OLBG for supporting me, especially funding the trip to China,' says Kelly. 'This is a great opportunity to train with the best in the world and allow me to peak at the right time. With OLBG's sponsorship in place I can now focus 100% on my training and strive to do my best, both for myself and my country.'

BBC Radio aired Kelly's plight earlier this year, which was heard by a member of the sports betting community site. The member knew that OLBG had helped out young up-and-coming darts player, Matt Edgar, who was forced to sell items such as his PlayStation to fund entrance fees, so got in touch with OLBG to see if they could help Kelly.

Richard Moffat, Chief Operating Officer at OLBG.com, commented: 'After speaking with Kelly, we felt this trip to China would enable her to train with the world's best table tennis players and help her compete at her best at London 2012. Unfortunately there have been funding cuts for some GB Olympic hopefuls like Kelly, but we are only too pleased to step in and play our small part in helping Team GB have a successful London 2012.'

Kelly is available for media and press interviews; enquires can be made at her site KellySibley.com.

Reference

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/table_tennis/9247926.stm

About OLBG.com

OLBG.com is a sports betting community where knowledgeable punters discuss, analyse and make predictions on a wide variety of sporting and non-sporting events - from football matches and horse races to new football club managers and X-Factor eliminations.

The community provides an interactive microcosm of the mindset of online gamblers and their opinions of the stories of the day from the latest antics of football celebrities to the impact of whip rules on horse racing betting.  Thousands of comments on breaking sports news stories and upcoming sporting events are added daily.

For further information about OLBG.com, The Sports Betting Community, please contact Stefanie Reeve on +44(0)1179-856992 or Stefanie@invendium.co.uk . Quotes and opinions from expert sports bettors are available upon request.

SOURCE OLBG.com