Jabeena Maslin MBE has been nominated for the Coach Award at the PLx Awards, hosted by UK Sport, for her work with the GBR Modern Pentathlon team.
Dorset-based 78-year-old Maslin has been the British national team’s riding coach for the last eight Olympic cycles, with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games set to be her ninth, and final, outing with the team.
Her achievements throughout her career, driving multiple Team GB medals, have led her to be recognised on the shortlist for the Coach Award for this year’s PLx Awards. The awards are a celebration of the outstanding achievements of those who contribute to making extraordinary sporting moments happen.
Maslin, who was awarded an MBE last year for services to Modern Pentathlon and has an equestrian centre in Beaminster, is cited by many as one of the key factors in GBR’s success. Since UK Sport National Lottery funding began, Maslin has worked with athletes and other coaches to build the team into a dominant force in the international sporting landscape.
Since the 2000 Olympics, GBR have seen medal success at every Games apart from in Rio. In Tokyo, Joe Choong and Kate French took home gold medals and both praised Maslin’s role in getting them to the top step.
Commenting on her nomination, Maslin said: “I’ve been a riding coach for Pentathlon GB since 1976, it’s quite frightening really. It’s been a wonderful experience and being nominated for this award is most exciting.”
PLx 2023, the annual coming together of the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community, will take place in Stratford-upon-Avon on 28 November, where seven award winners from across the elite high-performance sector across Olympic and Paralympic sport will be celebrated by their peers.
Jon Pett, Pentathlon GB’s Performance Director, said: “After all these years, Jabeena’s enthusiasm for the sport still shines through and inspires the Modern Pentathlon team day-in-day out. Her spirit and character endears her to UK Sport’s criteria for this award to celebrate a true character within the high-performance sector.”
To find out more about the PLx Awards, hosted by UK Sport and powered by The National Lottery, visit www.uksport.gov.uk
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