UK Sport is thrilled to announce the athletes participating in its first ever ‘Athlete Creator Club.
This pilot initiative, delivered in partnership with creative studio Weirdo, aims to explore how to increase the visibility, engagement and followership of Olympic and Paralympic athletes by working together with them to create consistent, creative and authentic content.
UK Sport funds over a thousand elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes, from towns and cities right across the UK, competing almost every day across the world. Through the Athlete Creator Club they intend to build and grow the profile of these athletes and better connect them with more fans.
The world of sport is changing. Fans want more than medals — they want stories, personalities, and authenticity. The Athlete Creator Club is here to break down barriers like time, technical skills, and social media know-how and support the athletes with content strategy, capture and distribution.
The Athlete Creator Club is initially supporting six athletes to experiment with creating content that helps them reach a new fanbase, build their profile across social media and let them tell their own story in their own voice. The athletes will also have access to ‘The Playbook’, a how-to guide for using social media effectively and staying safe online, with this rolling out to all athletes in Summer 2025.
The first six Athlete Creator Club members are:
- Liam Kirk, Ice Hockey UK
- Ruth Mwandumba, British Shooting
- Phoebe Paterson-Pine, Archery GB
- Abi Martin, British Gymnastics
- Emily Campbell, British Weightlifting
- Zac Shaw, UK Athletics
This initiative is part of a wider programme of transformation work to create a more sustainable future for British Olympic and Paralympic sport. This work includes testing and innovating new approaches to digital and data, fan engagement and the delivery of major sporting events in the UK.
Simon Morton, Director of Events, Sporting System and External Affairs at UK Sport, commented: “We support over 1,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who play a huge role in uniting and inspiring the British public, but their reach and relevance often declines between the Games. The Athlete Creator Club will test how we can transform athlete followership, and the benefits of pursuing an athlete-led strategy to building fan engagement across Olympic and Paralympic Sport.”
Lauren Moult, Head of Growth at Weirdo, said: “It’s a dream to bring the Athlete Creator Club to life, and work in partnership with six world-class athletes. We’re going to be on hand as a personal creative team, and we hope to build fame for the Club's athletes and give them the tools to tell their own story over the long-term.”
On taking part in the Athlete Creator Club Zac Shaw, UK Athletics, said: “I’m really excited to be working with Weirdo. Social media has become such a big part of sports and marketing. I can’t wait to see what we can create together!”
Phoebe Paterson-Pine, Archery GB, reflected: "I'm really grateful to be a part of the Athlete Creator Club. Through the Athlete Creator Club I hope to bring more light to the sport of archery and the benefits there are to participating. I'd also like to shed more light on what it's like to be a professional athlete, and that although I compete for my country competitively, I am still a human outside the sport with hobbies and other things going on in my life."
Ruth Mwandumba, British Shooting, said: “I'm truly excited to be a part of the Athlete Creator Club. The Athlete Creator Club will allow me to connect with others and learn new creative techniques, whilst offering a fantastic opportunity to showcase the world of target shooting and to promote diversity within our sport, which is super important to me.
“As a new mother to twin girls, I also see this as a chance to share my journey and demonstrate that it's entirely possible to pursue a professional athletic career while embracing motherhood. I can't wait to highlight the many different areas of my life through this new platform, and to hopefully introduce a new audience to shooting sports.”
Liam Kirk, Ice Hockey UK, said: "I’m excited to use my platform to share my journey and hopefully grow the game of hockey in the UK. Whether that be through more eyes watching the sport, or even better more people playing, especially starting from younger ages.
Abi Martin, British Gymnastics, said: “I’m really excited to be a part of the Athlete Creator Club and looking forward to gaining more insight and understanding of how social media can have the best positive impact in showing how incredible gymnastics is as a sport. Having access to the resource and knowledge of the Athlete Creator Club gives me the opportunity to show people more of my life both in and out of the gym, and that content hopefully helps engage more fans and inspire the younger generation”
Emily Campbell, British Weightlifting, said: "I am looking forward to being a part of the Athlete Creator Club and working with the team at Weirdo to learn more about social media. I'm hoping through my time as part of the Athlete Creator Club, I can help to grow my sport and also learn how to grow my social media beyond sport, appealing to wider lifestyle and entertainment audiences. It's great to be a part of a community all working to the same ambition!"