Michael Wilson, from the University of Brighton Faculty of Arts, received the gold medal for his short story Almost Steven Gerrard which tells the heartfelt story of a football-loving young boy growing up in a challenging domestic situation.

The silver medal was awarded to Sally Lawson-Cruttenden, who is studying towards a degree in Creative Writing and Personal Development by Research at the University of Sussex, for her poem Paris Marathon.
Ella's Story by Laura Vellacott, Programme Co-ordinator in the University of Sussex’s School of English, took the bronze medal.

The panel of judges included novelist Peter James, poet Clare Best, script writer Phil Porter, as well as academic staff from both universities, including Sussex's Professor Stephanie Newell, Professor Nicholas Royle and Dr Minoli Salgado.

All of the judges were impressed by the diverse and innovative responses to the competition themes. All of the entries to the competition will now be published in an anthology, which will be available in Waterstones, City Books and the university bookshops at the end of August.

The book intends to celebrate what, at best, sport achieves so successfully - bringing people together to engage in collaborative and individual pursuits and celebrate and share in each other’s successes and triumphs.

The project was organised by Jess Moriarty, senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Brighton and founder of 'Work, Write, Live.' The primary motivations were to explore new and existing connections between art and sport through the medium of creative writing.