Olympian joins Wales Golf board in high-performance role

Nation.Cymru staff

A Welsh Olympian and multi-sport athlete has been appointed to a senior role helping shape the future of elite golf in Wales.

Adele Nicoll, a shot putter, discus thrower and bobsledder from mid Wales, has joined Wales Golf as a Non-Executive Director for high performance.

The 29-year-old, who also holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, brings experience from both athletics and winter sports, having recently competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy and now targeting the Commonwealth Games shot put later this year.

Nicoll said she hopes her varied background across different elite sporting environments will allow her to support the next generation of Welsh golfers.

“I feel I have a lot of experience in several different performance environments, so I can have a positive influence on the pathway and helping elite, young Welsh golfers,” she said.

“I have always had the drive to give back to Welsh sport because I grew up in mid Wales where there were not that many opportunities. It is interesting how I have come through that environment to where I am now.

“I have been through from grassroots to elite sport and I feel I have made so many decisions, mistakes and good moves, that will help me to contribute.”

Nicoll, a three-time British shot put champion, has spent the past 15 years working within high-performance systems and says her experience of both successful and underfunded programmes gives her a “unique perspective”.

She pointed in particular to her time in bobsleigh, where athletes initially operated without funding before securing support following strong results.

“I have been part of successful programmes and part of unsuccessful programmes, so I feel I can contribute to decisions where people suggest ideas I have trialled,” she added.

Nicoll’s appointment follows the death of former board member Hugh Morris, the ex-England cricketer and former chief executive of Glamorgan.

Wales Golf chief executive Hannah McAllister said Nicoll would bring valuable insight from outside the sport.

“Adele will be a great addition to the team, she has so much experience to offer and she is very keen to pass on lessons she has learned,” she said.

“It helps she understands elite sport in two very different areas, field athletics and bobsleighing. They may both be quite different from golf, but many of the lessons of talent identification and development will cross over.

“Naturally, there is a lot of golf knowledge in our team, so she can add a different perspective and challenge them in new ways.”

Welshpool

Despite her success in other sports, Nicoll also has a personal connection to golf through her family, with her mother having served as Ladies Captain at a club near Welshpool.

“My mother is golf mad,” she said. “It gives me a perspective and understanding, so I can look at it from a wider sport point of view even though I do not have time to play much at the moment.”

Nicoll, who is currently training in the United States, has taken up her role with immediate effect.